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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29127249">The Cursed Queen</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragon_Fly_Act/pseuds/Dragon_Fly_Act'>Dragon_Fly_Act</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dreamcatcher (Korea Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Abuse, Alternate Universe - Gods &amp; Goddesses, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Angst, Blood and Injury, Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Evil!Yoohyeon, Explicit Language, F/F, Hanahaki Disease, Mental Instability, Mythology - Freeform, Sadistic!Yoohyeon, SuSiJiYoo Love Square, Torture, Violence, medieval warfare</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 06:07:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>34,971</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29127249</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragon_Fly_Act/pseuds/Dragon_Fly_Act</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Cursed Queen, Kim Yoohyeon, has plunged the realm of Vallerius into total darkness with her reign being nothing but sadistic and tyrannical. A rebellion begins in hopes of bringing peace to the realm with Kim Minji as its leader.</p><p>The Queen’s plans of capturing the rebellion leader fall apart when an orphaned, lovesick peasant, Lee Bora, begins a riot in the town square.</p><p>Can Minji, Bora, Siyeon, Handong, Yubin and Gahyeon all get along in order to save cursed Yoohyeon and save the realm of Vallerius from an impending doom?</p><p>(Loosely based on the Déjà Vu MV)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kim Bora | SuA/Kim Minji | JiU, Kim Bora | SuA/Lee Siyeon, Kim Minji | JiU/Kim Yoohyeon, Kim Yoohyeon/Lee Siyeon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>50</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi everyone, this is the revamped version of “The Cursed Queen”. Despite how full on this first chapter is, I have added a lot more fluff between characters in this re-upload in order to give more depth to the story (and to give the characters a break). I hope you all look forward to the new and updated version. </p><p>Trigger Warnings Chapter 1: blood/injury, abuse, sword fight, mentions of torture </p><p>~BITW001</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bora attempted to open her eyes.</p><p>An incandescent wave of agony engulfed her like molten lava, hammering at her left temple. Opening her eyes at this point was close to impossible. The gnarly cut etched into her left temple ensured that her eye would be swollen shut for days to come. Her good eye was as heavy as lead, fluttering open on occasion to find out where on earth she was.</p><p>Bora parted her lips, tongue running over her chapped lips, moistening them ever so slightly. She stopped abruptly when she felt a form of encrusted liquid in the corner of her mouth. The familiar tangy, metallic taste of blood activated her tastebuds. What on earth had happened to her?</p><p>Her face contorted in discomfort as she blindly tried to feel around, hands shaking uncontrollably. Beneath her palms was a jagged, cool surface. Perhaps a rough stone or marble floor, she could not be sure. Every inch of her body throbbed, it was as if a tonne of stones had collapsed upon her.</p><p>There was no noise, and through her blurry, monocular vision she could just make out the dim light emitting from what she assumed was a rusty old wall lamp. Bora squeezed her eyes shut, blocking out the dim glow of lighting and attempted to ignore the severe level of pain pulsating through her head.</p><p>Bora tried. She tried to move any part of her body, but everything hurt so damn much. Oh how she wished she was unconscious again. At least then she would be numb, unable to feel anything.But she could feel something.</p><p>Unruly hairs tickled her neck and a soft voice was by her ear, sounding melancholy. Bora frowned trying to make out the muffled words, but all she could to do was cry...because it hurt so much. She must have looked so broken and pathetic to the person beside her.</p><p>Squeezing her eyes shut to deal with the Herculean wave of unbearable agony engulfing her, the hand that previously held onto her so tightly let go and found its way to her face to dab away her freshly shed tears. Then, the soft hand was clutching hers again, tighter than before. Even though waves of agony hammered at her body, she knew who was weeping beside her.</p><p>“Minji?” Bora croaked, finally uttering her first word in what felt like days. Her voice was hoarse, raw almost.</p><p>“Oh Bora. Thank goodness,” the older woman wept. “Easy now,” she heard Minji soothe, “don’t move too much.” Bora squeezed her hand back weakly, realising that Minji was quickly becoming her source of comfort.</p><p>“Why does it hurt so much?” Bora cried painfully, eyes still tightly screwed shut.</p><p>“You don’t remember?” Bora heard Minji’s voice uncharacteristically waver.</p><p>“No,” Bora exhaled sharply.</p><p>
  <em>‘Where am I? What happened? Is Minji hurt?’</em>
</p><p>“Can you try to open your eyes for me?” Minji’s calm tone thwarted the endless amount of questions floating around in her mind. “Slow and steady now.”</p><p>It took every ounce of her being to fulfil the older girl’s request, because it felt as if every bone in her body had been set alight. Through her fog of pain, she could see the blur that she assumed was Minji. The dim glow from the rusty wall lamps bothered her limited vision.</p><p>“I am sorry,” Bora whispered hoarsely, her good eye fluttering shut again.</p><p>“Do not worry,” Minji said gently, “I am not going anywhere, remember?”</p><p>It all came flooding back to her, clear as day.</p>
<hr/><p>The sun was hot and shone brightly as she toiled away in the fields of her adopted family’s farmstead. Beads of sweat collected upon her forehead as Regina, the beautiful ebony mare that pulled her cart along, manoeuvred through the rows of crops.</p><p>These endless rows of crops was where she was left by her blood relatives, her parents. It was winter then so all the crops had died. Her parents, whoever they were, had left a newborn to freeze to death in the snow. If it had not been for the farmers that found her, she would have most certainly perished. Never to be given a chance to have a loving family or a life. Never to have witnessed the birth of her younger sister Lee Gahyeon. Gods, she would not have become a strong, confident woman without the Lees.</p><p>“Easy there girl,” Bora soothed, gently tugging on the reins, the motion thwarting her thoughts. The ebony mare halted, giving Bora the opportunity to fetch a pail of water from her cart.</p><p>The dark-haired woman was parched, she must have been watering these crops for hours in the scorching heat. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she lifted a pail of water to her chapped lips. As she drank to hydrate herself, water spilled from the corner of her mouth, endless rivulets rolling down her neck and soaking her shirt through. Bora glugged onwards before letting out a satisfied sigh.</p><p>“Ahhh. Water has never tasted so good.” Bora poured the remaining liquid over her head to cool down, the droplets drenching her hair effectively. “Ahhh.” Another satisfied sigh. “That’s better.”</p><p>Bora fetched another pail of water.</p><p>“You must be thirsty too, Regina.” She offered the full pail to her ebony mare who placed her snout straight in. “There you go girl,” Bora smiled lovingly at her four-legged companion. “It is scorching today so drink all the water you need.”</p><p>Suddenly, Regina’s head lifted, ears pricking upwards almost instantly. Her beautiful, long tail clamped down, tucked away between her hindquarters. “What is it girl? What has frightened you?”</p><p>Regina snorted loudly, pawing at the ground anxiously as a strange rustling grew louder. “Easy girl,” Bora attempted to soothe, by petting her snout. “It’s nothing. Relax.”</p><p>“Bora!” A familiar voice called. “Bora, where are you?”</p><p>“Gahyeon?” She called back. “I’m over here with Regina, she’s spooked.”</p><p>Her younger sister, Gahyeon, poked her head through one of the rows of crops. Sweat dripped from her every pore.</p><p>“Bora...,” Gahyeon panted. She had been running it seemed. “You have to come, quick!<br/>
“Catch your breath, sister.” Bora placed a comforting hand on the younger girl’s shoulder. “What is it?”</p><p>“It’s Minji...,” Gahyeon gasped out. “She refused arrest and now a riot has broken out in the town square!”</p><p>Bora’s eyes narrowed. “What?”</p><p>“The Queen’s Guard they’re here!” Gahyeon despaired. “They’re going to take Minji to the palace prison!”</p><p>No. Not Kim Minji. Not the rebellion leader and her best friend. Not the woman she secretly loved and adored with the entirety of her heart.</p><p>The wooden pail dropped to her feet as Bora leapt into action. She scurried over to her cart where, secretly, she kept a stash of weaponry. These times were incredibly dangerous, hostile and unstable, she had every right to defend herself. With a sweep of her hand she removed the tarp covering the hidden weaponry, sending it to the ground with a billow of dust. Her bow and readied quiver remained, and she quickly slung them both over her shoulder.</p><p>Gahyeon’s hands flew to her face, cupping her mouth in utter shock. “Where do you think you’re going with that?!”</p><p>“I have to save her,” Bora said, picking up a short-sword from the cart’s clutter.</p><p>“Bora, no!” Gahyeon’s tears began to seep. “You can’t! I will not let you!”</p><p>The older girl focused on her task for if she looked into her sister’s eyes she would be wholeheartedly convinced to stay and not save Minji.</p><p>“I’ll handle the Queen’s Guard. You gather support for the rebellion.”</p><p>“Bora,” Gahyeon was crying freely now, pleadingly gripping onto her sister’s forearm. “I know you love her, but think about what you are doing! Charging in with no reinforcements, taking on the Queen’s Guard? It’s pure insanity!”</p><p>Gahyeon was right. It was pure insanity, but it was known that love had driven people to the point of irrationality. “You are right. It is pure insanity. But I cannot sit back and do absolutely nothing as the woman I love gets taken to that tyrannical sadist of a Queen.”</p><p>A sob tore itself from Gahyeon’s throat. “If you get caught, you’ll be tortured.”</p><p>“That is exactly why I must go!” A shaky sigh escaped the older girl’s lips. “If I don’t save Minji, she’ll be tortured into submission by the Queen. The rebellion will be done for, and I will...,” tears welled up in the older woman's eyes, “I will lose her forever.”</p><p>“But if I lose you, what am I to do?” Gahyeon hiccuped, tears like a never ending waterfall. “What am I to do without the older sister that I love so dearly?”</p><p>“Gahyeon,” Bora’s face contorted in a newfound pain as tears began to prickle at her eyes too. She willed herself to stay strong, to not cry, but it proved to be extremely difficult. A single tear escaped, trailing down her cheek as she lifted her tiny hands to cup her sister’s face. “Do not cry little one.”</p><p>Gahyeon cried harder, sobs racking her tiny frame as she engulfed Bora in a crushing hug. Slowly but surely, Bora’s strong arms wrapped around the shaking frame of her sister’s.</p><p>“Please return to me,” her little sister wept.<br/>
Bora eyes fluttered shut as Gahyeon cried into the crook of her shoulder.</p><p>‘Twas goodbye. It was truly the end. It was probable that she would not return. Gods, she had bought herself a one way ticket to hell to save the woman she loved.</p><p>“Little one,” Bora’s tone softened, more tears leaking from her own eyes. “I love you. Always remember that.”</p><p>They broke apart, Bora pressing her lips to Gahyeon’s forehead in a chaste kiss that lingered for what felt like minutes, hours even.</p><p>When Bora began to move away, a small hand caught her wrist. “Wait,” sniffled Gahyeon. “Take this for luck.”</p><p>The younger girl placed a silvery chain in Bora’s palm. “What is it?”</p><p>“It’s a necklace,” Gahyeon dabbed at her water-stained face. “I had it made for you.”</p><p>“Amethyst?” Bora looked up at her with wide eyes. Gahyeon nodded. “My favourite.”</p><p>“Keep it close to remember me and our family. It will protect you.”</p><p>“Thank you.” In one leap, she mounted her ebony mare, sword at the ready.</p><p>“And Bora?” Gahyeon blinked away the tears that threatened to fall. “Be safe, please.”</p><p>“Same to you, sister.”</p>
<hr/><p>When Bora arrived at the square, it was utter chaos. Stones and various rotten foods were being hurled at the member of the Queen’s Guard who dragged a bleeding figure through the raucous crowd.</p><p>“Minji...,” Bora gasped, weaving through the mass of people. Minji was in a horrid state. Blood stained her usual pristine clothing. Her fiery red hair that was always neatly groomed, matted and dishevelled. The guards continued to drag her along towards the palace.</p><p>The crowd shouted all sorts of obscenities at the Queen’s Guard, their sense of injustice rising to a pinnacle. Minji was their leader. She gave the people of Vallerius a voice they could stand behind.</p><p>Knuckles turned a ghostly white from gripping the pommel of her short sword, Bora quickened her pace brushing past bellowing and shrieking townspeople. She darted and weaved closer and closer to where Minji was being hauled against her will.</p><p>“Take your filthy hands off me!” The redhead shrieked, kicking and struggling against the guard’s iron grip.</p><p>Bora was nearly there. Mere steps away but as she got closer, the remainder of the Queen’s Guard pushed against the crowd with their metal shields.</p><p>“Stand your ground!” Their leader ordered.<br/>
Her gaze averted back to Minji. The guard she was struggling to fight against pulled back his fist and struck her square in the face, sending her to the filthy ground. Rivulets of crimson matching the colour of the older woman’s hair leaked from the fresh wound on her cheekbone.</p><p>“Enough Kim Minji!” Bora heard the guard bellow. “You have been found guilty of trying to overthrow Queen Yoohyeon! Stop fighting and accept your punishment!”</p><p>The mere thought of Minji being tortured into submission was enough for Bora to unsheathe her blade, and charge forward. Metal found metal as she clashed with the Queen’s Guard leader.</p><p>“You swines!” Bora seethed, drawing back her fist and clocking the Queen’s Guard leader with such sheer strength that they both tumbled to the ground in a heap.</p><p>The leader’s sword and helmet was lost in the scuffle, revealing her long blonde hair and mesmerising blue eyes. For a brief moment Bora was taken aback by her beauty.</p><p>The crowd roared their approval of Bora’s actions becoming more raucous and surging forward with her, breaking the Queen’s Guard formation.</p><p>“Fall back!” The woman beneath her commanded “Fall back!”</p><p>Bora gritted her teeth, drawing her fist back once again and striking the leader of the Queen’s Guard in the jaw. The blonde-haired woman groaned in pain, blood now leaking from the corner of her mouth as she used her shield to smack Bora to the side.</p><p>Bora landed with a sickly sounding crunch, knuckles still a ghostly white from gripping onto her short-sword ever so tightly. Her surroundings swirled as she shook the cobwebs away to regather her bearings.</p><p>“Fall back!” The blonde-haired woman shouted once again, taking a moment to get to her feet again.</p><p>Bora was swiftly back on her feet, sword at the ready. She swung her blade forward, the blonde- haired guard raising her shield to block just in time.</p><p>Her wrath had far from smouldered, flaring hotter than the scorching sun that shone down on all of them. Bora cut at the blonde, only to be blocked for a second time. But again, Bora lunged forward, swinging and thrusting her blade relentlessly, driving the Queen’s Guard leader further into the raucous crowd, never letting her regain her balance.</p><p>The blonde desperately tried to fend off the Bora’s attacks, attempting to counter as best she could with her shield, but the smaller woman refused to ease up on her initiative.</p><p>Finally, Bora’s sword slipped past the blonde’s shield. The leader tilted her head out of the way but still the blade met flesh. A fresh gash marked her features.</p><p>In shock and pain, the blonde stumbled, shield clattering to the filthy ground as she clutched at the wound with shaking hands. Crimson liquid leaked past her fingers and down her arm.</p><p>“Fall back Dami! Fall back!” The crowd was upon her, hurling stones and rotten food, using whatever they could find to beat her senseless.</p><p>“Siyeon!” Another female guard’s desperate cry sounded.</p><p>“Fall back!”</p><p>The crowd roared in victory as the first wave of the Queen’s Guard was overcome. Through all the violence and chaos she had lost sight of Minji.</p><p>
  <em>‘Where was she?’</em>
</p><p>There was a hitch in her breath as her heart pounded painfully against her ribcage.</p><p>
  <em>‘No. I could not have lost her. No. No. No.’</em>
</p><p>“Minji!” Bora screamed out, hoping that despite all the noise the redhead could hear her. “Minji!” Weaving through the riot turned battle, she frantically searched for the woman she loved so dearly. “Oh Gods, please,” Bora cried, “don’t take her away from me.” All she needed was to catch a glimpse of Minji’s fiery red hair, then she would be able to find her.</p><p>“Bora help me,” came a nearby cry. A message from the Gods themselves. Whirling around frenziedly, there was the fiery red hair she could recognise anywhere.</p><p>Pushing her arms back and forth, she picked up her pace as she hurried over to the woman she secretly loved.</p><p>“Minji!” Bora gasped, skidding to a halt on her knees. “Minji are you alright?” “My foot,” Minji grimaced. “I think it’s fractured.”</p><p>Bora’s concerned gaze trailed down Minji’s long legs to where her right foot had been trapped underneath a decaying horse cart. It must have been overturned in all the chaos.</p><p>“The wood is rotten,” Bora noticed. “I can break this. I can free you.”</p><p>Raising her sword, she swung with as much force as she could, hacking at the wood ferociously. It fractured ever so slightly. With her teeth gritted in sheer determination, she swung her blade again. This time the wood splintered.</p><p>“Archers on the city walls!” Some of the townspeople bellowed. Her eyes trailed upwards to where the Queen’s archers were marching to their designated positions.</p><p>“Shit,” Bora cursed. </p><p>Her arms were beginning to ache from all the fighting, but she had promised herself that she would save Minji. She lifted her sword and hacked at the decaying wood. This time a scream of determination tore from her throat. </p><p>Her blade struck hard and true, rotten debris tumbling to the ground. A combination of kicks, and Minji was able to be freed.</p><p>“Can you make it to the stables?” Bora questioned, her breath escaping in short pants. If they could reach the stables, they could make an escape and flee quite easily. After all it was where Bora had hidden her ebony mare, Regina.</p><p>“I can’t stand,” the redhead hissed in pain. Bora quickly slung Minji’s arm over her shoulder, supporting the majority of the older woman’s weight.</p><p>“We can take cover behind the well, then make another dash for the stables.” With a grunt, Bora lifted Minji to her feet. The older girl could barely place any weight on her fractured foot. “We must move.”</p><p>They aimed to make it to the well, Minji hopping along whilst Bora used what little strength she had left to drag the other woman to safety.</p><p>“They’re readying their bows to fire!” Bora’s gaze trailed up to the city walls once again just in time to see the archers draw back and release.</p><p>“Take cover, take cover!” The townspeople shouted, scattering in all different directions.</p><p>Bora shielded Minji from the onslaught of arrows. A few managed to miss them. They were mere steps away from taking cover behind the well when an agonising wail tore from Bora’s throat.</p><p>A searing white hot pain shot through her thigh, a pain that was unimaginable. She collapsed immediately, the agony unlike anything she had ever felt.</p><p>“Bora!” The older woman shrieked in horror when she realised her comrade had been struck by a stray arrow. “No! No!”</p><p>“Draw back!”</p><p>“Go Minji,” Bora urged through the insurmountable pain. Shaky hands clutched at her thigh where the arrow pierced deeply into her flesh, rivulets of crimson beginning to ooze past her fingers. “Just go.”</p><p>“Have you lost your mind?!” Minji cried. “They will take you to the palace prison!”</p><p>“Ready!”</p><p>“Just go Minji!”</p><p>Fresh tears cascaded down Bora’s cheeks, as the older woman began to desperately drag her towards the well to take cover from another onslaught of arrows aimed down at citizens and guards alike.</p><p>“Release!”</p><p>The older woman refused to leave her there. With a grunt of pure determination, Minji hauled her to safety, the arrows narrowly missing the petite woman and hitting against the cobblestone path with a loud clatter.</p><p>Behind the cover of the well, Bora fell onto her, arms weakly wrapping around the redhead’s sturdy frame. Her face was buried into the nape of Minji’s neck where she whimpered quietly.</p><p>“Sweetheart,” Minji embraced her tightly, rubbing calming circles on her back to soothe her. “Sweetheart, focus on me.”</p><p>Bora’s gaze fluttered upwards, tears of anguish evident on her face. The rebellion leader moved to cup her face gently, tenderly wiping away the cascade of tears with her thumbs.</p><p>“Leave me,” the petite woman choked out. “Please, save thyself.”</p><p>“No, no,” Minji shook her head frantically. “The Queen will have you tortured!”</p><p>“That’s a small price to pay, if it means keeping you alive,” Bora cried softly. “I want you to live.”</p><p>“And what kind of life would I live without you?” Minji questioned as she wiped more of the younger woman’s tears away. “I’m not going anywhere without you.”</p><p>“Gods damn it Minji please just save thyself!”Bora sobbed in pure desperation. Tiny fists landed against the rebellion leader’s chest softly, scrunching up her blouse. “Please.”</p><p>“I cannot leave you here wounded,” the rebellion leader tried to reason. “I will stay, and that’s a promise.”</p><p>Off in the distance, the two women could hear<br/>
another battalion of the Queen’s Guard deploying out into the town square. They were coming to take Minji away to the palace.</p><p>“Minji, please,” Bora begged with the woman she secretly loved. The rebellion leader did not budge. Instead, she held onto the younger woman refusing to let her go.</p><p>In a matter of seconds, they were surrounded, Minji using herself as a human shield to protect the petite woman.</p><p>“Kim Minji, you are under arrest for attempting to overthrow Queen Yoohyeon, “ the Commander announced.</p><p>With a few gestures, he ordered his men to wrench the rebellion leader away.</p><p>“Bora, I will be alright,” Minji whispered by her ear to assure her. “I will be alright.”</p><p>Grubby hands pulled the woman she loved away. Without Minji’s sturdy frame to hold her upright, Bora collapsed in a heap, head resting against the cool cobblestone. It was a welcomed contrast in comparison to the fiery agony gnawing away at her thigh. She looked up from her place on the ground, only to witness the Queen’s Guard shackle the rebellion leader’s hands together then bring a hard slap to her face.</p><p>Minji’s face snapped to the right, but the smallest of winces slipped through her usually calm exterior. The Queen’s Guard erupted into a roar of laughter.The sight infuriated Bora, only encouraging her to reach for her short-sword.</p><p>Extending her arm, she reached for her sword, fingers gripping around the handle tightly. They were not going to lay their grubby hands on Minji, not as long as she was still alive to stop it.</p><p>Using the well for support, she gingerly hauled herself to her feet. The petite woman could barely place any weight on her wounded leg, but adrenaline and desperation to save Minji spurred her onwards.</p><p>“Do not touch her,” Bora minced out through gritted teeth, sword raised, pointing directly at the offenders.</p><p>“And who are you to tell me how to treat a criminal?” The Commander deadpanned.</p><p>“I want to offer you a proposal,” Bora spoke up as loudly and confidently as she could muster. “Face me in a duel to the death. If I win, you spare Minji and take me instead.”</p><p><em>‘Bora, no!’</em> The redhead silently cried.</p><p>Another roaring laughter escaped the members of the Queen’s Guard at Bora’s proposal.</p><p>“Do you really think I would waste my time with you?” The Commander sneered, looking the petite woman up and down. “You’re weak. You’re wounded. I could dispatch you in seconds.”</p><p>“Then prove it,” Bora growled, wiping the tears and sweat from her face. “Fight me, coward.” </p><p>The Commander scoffed, unsheathing his blade. “I accept your challenge, girl.”</p><p>Two Queen’s Guard members kicked the back of Minji’s knees, forcing her down. The rebellion leader hissed as her knees bit into the cobblestone, her teeth clenched as another roaring laughter erupted from the Queen’s Guard finding her pain nothing but amusing.</p><p>Gingerly, on one leg, Bora limped forwards, sword at the ready. The Commander lazily twirled his sword around, chuckling at her injured state.</p><p>Minji held her breath, heart pounding in anticipation. The younger woman was a skilled swordswoman, that she knew. The rebellion leader had seen her fight plenty of times before, but Bora was wounded and could barely stand. What on earth was she thinking taking on a Commander that was fresh from the barracks?</p><p>Bora pushed forward off her uninjured leg. Thrusting her blade forwards towards the Commander’s gut. He sidestepped, pivoting around to evade her with ease. She stumbled forwards, catching herself before she could collapse into heap once again.</p><p>More laughter roared from the members of the Queen’s Guard. “You must have a death wish, girl,” the Commander chuckled haughtily.</p><p>Bora gritted her teeth, lower lip quivering in a newfound rage. “Did your mother never teach you how to treat a woman?”</p><p>Swinging her blade, Bora struck again but the Commander blocked the attack with ease.</p><p>“Kim Minji is a criminal first,” he smirked, “and a woman second.”</p><p>Shoving him away, Bora lunged forward. The Commander pivoted again, dodging her attack, but Bora had anticipated his feint this time and brought an elbow to his face.</p><p>The Commander groaned having been busted open in a stunning display of crimson, his nose completely dislodged and misshapen. The unforeseen attack caused him to drop his weapon and clutch at his rapidly bleeding face.</p><p>Bora took the chance to lunge forward again, to run him through with her sword and end the duel, but her speed was incapacitated due to her injured thigh. He anticipated the strike again, and caught her blade under his arm between his chest plate and chain mail. With gritted teeth Bora used her free to drag her nails along his face with a fierce scratch.</p><p>“Enough playing, girl!” The Commander screeched, shoving her back so ferociously that her back collided with the stone well. Bora hissed as a newfound agony surged through her spine.</p><p>On wobbly legs she launched forwards, fist colliding with the side of his face but almost instantly she received a clap to the side of her face. It sent her spinning, reaching for the side of the well to keep her upright. She gripped the stone wall tightly, beads of crimson dripping into the water from the cut just above her eye.</p><p>A scream tore from her throat as the Commander descended upon her, forcing his knee into the back of Bora’s injured thigh. Fresh tears spilled from her eyes, her leg becoming crushed between the stone well and the Commander’s armoured knee plate. She slumped on the well’s edge, shaking uncontrollably and gripping tightly as she attempted to get back up to her feet.</p><p>“Stay down if you know what’s good for you, girl,” he spat, driving his knee further into her injured leg.</p><p>But Bora refused to stay down.</p><p>She lifted a trembling arm, attempting to elbow him in the face. The Commander chuckled viciously, pushing the point of his armoured knee plate further into her injured leg and wrenching her trembling arm unnaturally behind her back.</p><p>“I said stay down!”</p><p>Bora’s pain-filled cries heightened as he twisted and wrenched at the arm that had tried to strike him. Her eyes scrunched up in a newfound agony and her perspiring head rested against the stone, seemingly in defeat.</p><p>Minji whimpered. Every blow Bora took felt as if she was taking it herself. She could see the younger woman’s brows crease in otherworldly pain with every strike. That was about as much as she could take, before she knew she had to intervene.</p><p>“Stop it!” The rebellion leader screamed out, pushing against the weight that kept her on her knees. “Let her go!”</p><p>“M-Minji…” Bora’s strangled sob reached her ears, panged at her heart. The cascading tears and droopy-eyed look of desperation the petite woman had given her was a cry for help.</p><p>“It is over!” The comment from the Commander only caused Minji to struggle further, using her shackled hands to hit the men holding her wherever she could.</p><p>“Don’t kill her!” Minji screamed as the Queen’s Guard tried to keep her down. Through all the struggling and flailing, they pushed the rebellion leader onto her front, pinning her there and forcing her to watch the scene in front of her. “Let her go! Let her go! Bora!” The rebellion leader shrieked as she still tried to fight the men who held her to no avail.</p><p>“Shut up Kim Minji, you will be taken to the palace and your little friend here will enjoy her journey to the underworld.”</p><p>“Please, no,” Minji shook her head from side to side frantically, “please.”</p><p>Pleads fell on deaf ears and to the rebellion leader’s dread, a sickly sounding crack echoed throughout the town square but nothing could compare to the heart-wrenching, heart-slicing scream that tore from Bora’s throat as the Commander twisted her arm in such an unnatural way causing it to fall by her side, broken and pitiful.</p><p>“Bora!” Minji’s cry was shrill, eyes widening in horror when the Commander gripped the petite woman’s ebony locks roughly before shoving her head into the water below.</p><p>Bora’s scream was muffled by the water. She thrashed around, tears and blood leaking everywhere as she desperately tried to push up against the hand that held her there. Her lungs began to burn, evidently in need of oxygen. The hold on her hair was relentless as her vision began to tunnel and darken. In one final effort, she pushed against the hand using what little strength she had left in her functioning arm but the Commander used his free hand to pin it down.</p><p>It was over. It was the end. She had failed. She had failed to protect Minji, the woman she so dearly loved.</p><p>Slowly, she felt her body weakening and heard Minji’s anguished sobs, shrieking out her name somewhere off in the distance, muffled.</p><p>“Bora! Bora!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Chapter 2 is finally here! </p><p>Trigger warnings: violence, blood/injury, abuse, sword fight, illness, mentions of torture</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>“Bora,” Gahyeon called softly by her ear, “Bora.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Groaning, the older woman pulled the sheets over her head, rolling over to get more comfortable. “Just give me a few more minutes Gahyeonnie.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She heard her younger sister scoff before giving her a hard nudge. “Wake up, sleepyhead! ‘Tis your birthday and I have made plans!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Bora threw the sheets to the side, giving Gahyeon a questionable look. “Did you invite Minji over? I told you before, our home is not presentable.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“That is exactly why I invited Minji over!” Gahyeon grinned mischievously. “I thought someone could clean, and since you are ill with fever you could use some special loving on your birthday!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Lee Gahyeon...,” Bora’s voice was hoarse when her eyes barely widened in shock.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Something’s not right,” Gahyeon frowned. “You didn’t even playfully hit me for teasing you, and you seem awfully quiet.” Her sister placed a hand on her forehead. It was slick with perspiration.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Gahyeonnie...” In that fever she shivered. Bora’s eyes fluttered shut. It felt as if her head was about to implode from the constant pounding of her heart.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I think your fever’s spiking,” Gahyeon said with an edge of panic in her voice.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Get Minji,” Bora croaked. “She’ll know what to do.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>In a flash, Gahyeon was gone and she was left alone. Secretly, she was glad Minji was here to assist her in cleaning the home because she was to racked with fever to do so.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The perspiration soaked through her clothes, and she shivered uncontrollably. Her brow furrowed in a silent agony. She had rarely fallen ill, and silently she cursed herself for being so useless. So weak. So pathetic. It was time to get up and assist Minji in the cleaning duties.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Don’t even think about it,” a voice scolded as soon as she tried to get up.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Minji?” Bora weakly questioned. “But I must-“</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You must not do anything,” the redhead reiterated.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Bora you must listen to your lover,” Gahyeon teased, “you would not want to upset her now, would you?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“She’s- she’s not-“ Bora was not usually one to stutter.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Stop being such a brat to your sister,” Minji teased, “especially on her birthday.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Hmph,” Gahyeon pouted, tucking her hair behind her ear. “As you wish Minji. I shall leave you two alone then.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Through her half lidded gaze, she saw the redhead place a tray on the table by her bed. Bora was greeted with a delicious platter of food. There was a mug of orange juice, a bowl of assorted fruits along with some crisply roasted potatoes.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I made you breakfast ,” Minji said softly.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Help me sit up,” Bora croaked weakly.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Putting her arms underneath Bora’s shoulders, the older woman hoisted her to a sitting position. She took a moment to fluff up the pillows making sure that Bora was comfortable. A tender hand found its way to Bora’s wet forehead, and Minji could not help but frown.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You really are burning up,” the redhead observed.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Now I know how you feel when you’re around me,” Bora joked gingerly with slightest smirk.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A heart melting smile appeared on Minji’s face. One that reached all the way up to her eyes. One that caused Bora’s heartbeat to quicken.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Still a flirt even in illness,” the older woman laughed as Bora gulped down her orange juice and began to chew on her food. “And still a bottomless pit when it comes to food.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Excuse me?” Despite her mouth being stuffed with food, Bora quirked an eyebrow in disbelief. “ That ‘tis rich coming from you.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Eat your food now, sweetheart,” Minji cooed, “you need your strength.”</em>
</p><p>“<em>Maybe ‘tis you who needs my strength,” Bora lightly teased and attempted to send the older woman a wink to no avail.</em></p><p>
  <em>Minji threw her head back and laughed wholeheartedly. “Oh Bora, one of these days I will have to teach you how to properly wink.”</em>
</p><p><em>The petite woman wiped her brow with the back of her hand, head </em> <em>pounding more painfully. She flinched, gritting her teeth at the hammering sensation.</em></p><p>
  <em>‘What is happening to her? If her fever persists we will have to take her to a healer. Oh Gods, oh Gods.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Let me get some medicinal herbs,” Minji frowned, evidently beginning to worry.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“No,” Bora called desperately, “just stay with me please.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The older woman visibly relaxed on her chair. Sighing, she reached for the sack she had also brought with her. “If I’m going to be staying, I might as well give your birthday present. “</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You got me a present?” Bora rasped in surprise.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Here,” Minji handed her the sack, “open it.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Tiny hands opened up the sack, Bora gasped, heavy eyes widening as much as they could. “Minji,” she took the item out, admiring its leatherwork. “Tis beautiful.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You had mentioned that archery was a passion you could not pursue. You said you could never afford a bow and quiver so-“</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“So you bought this for me?” Bora ran her hands over the impeccable leatherwork of the quiver, the nocks of the arrows, the harness, the bowstring. Her mouth fell open in awe.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Sweetheart,” Minji’s entire face lit up with joy, “I did not buy this for you. I spent months crafting it by hand.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“M-Minji...”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Hush now,” the redhead shushed her. “Eat your food and when you recover I can teach you how to use it.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Really?” Bora beamed, her tired eyes sparkling ever so slightly.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yes, really.”</em>
</p><hr/><p>Bora’s eyes shot open.</p><p>Instantly, she reached for the quiver strapped to her back, gripping the nock of one of the arrows and plunging it blindly into the Commander’s side. The hold on her hair faltered, and she was able to take the opportunity and push up, taking a gasping breath. She collapsed onto her knees and uninjured arm, holding her broken arm against her chest as she coughed and spluttered, water spewing out of her mouth. Needing oxygen, she desperately wheezed and gasped in as much air as she could.</p><p>Despite her vision swirling into an incomprehensible mess, she could see the faint outline of her sword only mere inches away. Coughing and wheezing, she extended a shaky hand, feeling around for the pommel of her sword. After blindly feeling around for a few moments, her fingers gripped the familiar handle.</p><p>“I yield!” The Commander was on the ground next to her, rivulets of crimson leaking from the wound on his side. “I yield!”</p><p>“I told you...,” she rasped hoarsely, “not to touch her...”</p><p>“Bora? ‘Tis your name right?” The Commander pleaded. “I will offer you all my coins just please, spare me!”</p><p>“We made a deal,” Bora wheezed, “now honour it.”</p><p>With a grunt of determination, she plunged the blade into the Commander. There was no longer any movement from him.</p><p>“N-Now, take me,” she collapsed in complete anguish and exhaustion, “and let Minji go.”</p><p>The petite woman could not hear any laughter from the Queen’s Guard. Not a sound. They were stunned into silence because of what had transpired before them.</p><p>“Beat her,” The second-in-charge commander suddenly ordered. “Grab anything and beat her. Show her who’s superior.”</p><p>“No!” Minji screamed, flailing against the strong arms that held her in place. “This was not part of the deal!”</p><p>The members of the Queen’s Guard pounced on Bora, like ravenous wolves would an innocent lamb. Hits rained down on her from every direction, not caring where they struck her.</p><p>The pain was immeasurable. With every strike from their makeshift weapons, it felt as if her bones were being broken. Far off in the distance she could hear Minji’s shrieks, pleading with them to stop the vicious assault.</p><p>Bora did not recall how long the beating had lasted, only registering the final cane from a bamboo reed, and the sound of it snapping in two from the ferocity of the strike.</p><p>“Leave her alone!” Minji despaired agonisedly, struggling against the iron grip of the guards that had her restrained. “It’s me you want! It’s me!”</p><p>“Again!” The second-in-charge commander ordered, infuriated. “Find something else and beat her again!”</p><p>“No...,” Minji sobbed inconsolably. “B-Bora...”</p><p>Choked screams tore from her throat as more abuse rained down from above. Bora took every horrific strike, too exhausted to even defend herself. She clutched onto the amethyst pendant that Gahyeon gave her, knuckles turning a ghostly white, hoping that it would protect her.</p><hr/><p>“You should have ran when I told you to Minji,” Bora said. “You should have saved yourself.”</p><p>With her monocular vision clearing, she could make out that Minji’s lips were pursed together in a thin line.</p><p>“What were you thinking coming in there and getting yourself beaten up for me?”</p><p>“I was protecting someone I care about.”</p><p>“You did not need to do that.” Minji’s brows knitted in nothing but pure concern as that soft hand of hers moved to wipe away another bunch of Bora’s tears.</p><p>“I would do it again if I had to,” Bora said softly as the heavy waterworks seemed to be overtaking. She watched as the older girl patted at her own eyes, trying to stop the tears from spilling over but the attempts were futile.</p><p>“Bora,” Minji cried freely as she nestled into the crook of the younger woman’s shoulder. “I am glad you have awoken.”</p><p>“Well, well, well,” a female voice sing-songed with cruel amusement. “What do we have here? Kim Minji and her whimpering dog.”</p><p>“You are no better than a dog thyself Kim Yoohyeon,” Minji minced out through gritted teeth.</p><p>
  <em>‘Minji and the Queen are on first name basis? What in the blue hell?’</em>
</p><p>In a flash faster than any strike of lightning, the Queen’s open palm met Minji’s face with a crack that reverberated around the dingy cell.<br/>A groan escaped Minji’s lips as her face snapped to the side painfully. The older woman collapsed on top of her, tears stinging at the corner of her eyes.</p><p>‘<em>Minji...’</em> Bora’s insides turned to jelly as the woman she loved let the slightest wince slip through her usual tough exterior.</p><p>“You will address me as Your Majesty, peasant,” The Queen spat venomously at Minji who clutched at her smarting cheek. “Perhaps then I will be more lenient in regards to your punishment.” Yoohyeon’s smug expression curled into a sinister smirk.</p><p>Bora froze, keeping as still as possible, staring up at the ceiling with her one good eye whilst fear gnawed away at her insides. The mere thought of Minji being tortured caused her mind to swirl, increasing the pain in her head tenfold. The redhead’s grasp on her hand tightened as if reassuring her that everything was going to be alright. Bora could feel Minji’s fingers shaking against her bare skin, and perhaps the older woman should not have started a rebellion against the Queen. Perhaps they should have gone about their peasant lives and tended to their farms without so much as a peep. Perhaps she should not have fallen in love with a woman. Something that was forbidden.</p><p>
  <em>‘Get a hold of thyself Bora. You need to find a way out of this.’</em>
</p><p>“How should I torture you, Kim Minji?” The Queen stroked her chin in thought, pondering all the different ways she could inflict pain on the rebellion leader.</p><p>
  <em>‘No. Not torture. Gods please. Not Minji.’</em>
</p><p>“I could get my Queen’s Guard to beat you senseless, but that is not very exciting. Perhaps I could get my healers to mix up a potion to make you relive your worst nightmare, but that seems too kind of me.”</p><p>
  <em>‘No. No. No. Not Minji. Gods please. No. I am already wounded. She can beat me for her sadistic pleasure. Please, not Minji.’</em>
</p><p>“Ah, I know,” The Queen reduced Minji to an uncontrollable shaking mess against her tiny frame by whispering near her ear. Bora could feel the older woman’s fear. “I should have you flogged for all to see,” Yoohyeon snarled.</p><p><em>‘No, no!’</em> Bora’s resolve crumbled, fresh, unshed tears threatening to spill over. ‘<em>Not Minji!’</em></p><p>“I shall make an example out of you and your insubordination,” The Queen announced.</p><p>“You lay a hand on her, and I will end you,” Bora croaked hoarsely, silently chastising herself for how weak her voice sounded.<br/>Yoohyeon’s eyes flickered over to her. It had worked. She had managed to divert the Queen’s attention away from the woman she loved so dearly.</p><p>“What did you say?” Yoohyeon loomed over her.</p><p>“You heard me,” Bora minced out through gritted teeth.</p><p>The Queen towered above her, allowing Bora to finally take in her figure. The female was quite tall, and surprisingly seemed to be around the same age as Minji and herself, with unusual ash-grey hair, and impeccably sculpted features. Bora’s monocular gaze trailed up to the solid gold crown decorated with all sorts of precious jewels. A royal red cape clasped around her throat, held their by a decorated pin laced with emeralds. The Queen was a young lady who looked kind and caring, but nothing about her demeanour or her stance showed that. She was a tyrant. A pure sadist.</p><p>Yoohyeon chuckled viciously. “Whimpering dog, you are near-death already. What makes you think you can protect anyone?”</p><p>‘<em>There must be a way out of this. There must be a way to save Minji from this unwarranted punishment.’</em></p><p>“This ‘whimpering dog’ still has some bite left,” Bora countered. “I told you, if you lay a hand on Minji I will end you and your tyrannical reign myself.”</p><p>
  <em>‘Think Bora think.’</em>
</p><p>The Queen scoffed, amused by the prisoner’s futile boldness. “Who in the blue hell are you to even think of threatening me?”</p><p>“I am Lee Bora, the true leader of the rebellion.”</p><p>‘<em>What?’ </em>Minji’s head snapped up at the sudden revelation.</p><p>The Queen’s delicate features faltered. “You are the one who plots to overthrow me?” She fumed, lips trembling in anger.</p><p>“For a Queen, you really are dim -witted,” Bora fired back.</p><p>Without warning, Yoohyeon drove her leather boot into the prisoner’s leg. Her aim striking where the arrow had pierced flesh earlier. Bora screamed out in agony as she found herself clutching at her thigh. The arrow was still lodged in her flesh as blood gushed from the wound, seeping through her shaky fingers and onto the cell floor.</p><p>“Bora!” Minji cried out.</p><p>A fresh bout of tears left her eyes. The pain was unlike anything she had ever felt. It was surreal.</p><p>‘<em>I’m dying. Oh Gods. I’m dying.’</em></p><p>“You dare insult me!” Yoohyeon roared. The Queen’s strength was surprising as she was able to haul the petite prisoner to stand upright. Bora gasped as a newfound agony tore through her, the dingy cell beginning to swirl into an incoherent mess. Yoohyeon had wrenched her up from the collar of her blouse, slamming her against the stone wall of the cell.</p><p>“You falsely accused Minji,” Bora agonisingly gasped. “ ‘Twas me you were after the entire time.”</p><p>The side of her face erupted with a familiar smarting sensation, causing her head to snap violently to the right. Her lower lip quivered...fresh tears fell...she felt the fiery throb like the sting of a thousand hornets.</p><p>‘<em>Bora what in the hell are you thinking taking the fall for me like this?!’</em></p><p>“Stop it! Please, stop it!” Heart-wrenching cries left Minji’s lips. “I am the rebellion leader!”</p><p>‘<em>Stupid, selfless Minji. Do not worry about me. It is I who must save you because...’</em></p><p>
  <em>‘I love you...’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘And I want you to live.’</em>
</p><p>“What?” Yoohyeon snapped, still holding Bora against the stone wall. “Yoohyeon, Your Majesty,” Minji began to plead but was hastily cut off.</p><p>“She lies,” Bora choked out, through her pain. With her half-lidded gaze, barely hanging onto conscious, she hoped that the Queen would believe her and take the bait. “Twas me.”</p><p>
  <em>‘Bora, have you lost your ever loving mind?!’</em>
</p><p>Still trembling, sweat stung at her eyes and mixed with her tears, heart threatening to leap from her chest. She hoped to the Gods that Queen Yoohyeon would believe her.</p><p>
  <em>‘Take the bait, swine. Take the bait for the sake of the Gods!’</em>
</p><p>With a pained grunt and rapidly clouding vision, she felt one of the Queen’s delicate hands caressing her side. “You are the rebellion leader?”</p><p>Bora’s fear swelled to new heights as Yoohyeon’s hand trailed lower and lower until she stopped where the nock of the arrow stuck out from her flesh.</p><p>“You are the one who stockpiled weapons and planned to start the war to overthrow me. Not her?”</p><p>‘<em>Say no. Please say no.</em>’ Minji internally begged.</p><p>“I am,” Bora bit her lip suppressing her whimpers when Yoohyeon’s lanky fingers fluttered over the nock of the arrow, gripping it tightly.</p><p>“So be it then.” A searing white-hot pain shot through the entirety of her leg as the Queen twisted the arrow embedded in her flesh without a hint of mercy. She became rigid.<br/>The piercing punishment caused her to collapse with a guttural sob, vision in a complete whirl and frame racked with ripples of agony. It was nearly impossible to steady herself, her feeble legs buckling from the sheer exhaustion and torment her body had endured.</p><p>Her scream bounced off the stone wall of the cell. Probably one of the last screams she would ever utter.</p><p>“What a wonderous sight. Our little rebellion leader is so weak. So <em>pathetic</em>,” the cruel Queen mocked.</p><p>Minji’s tearful gaze trailed over to Bora who lay screaming on the cobblestone floor, her hands covered in rivulets of her own blood, skin littered with welts, scrapes, bruises and cuts.</p><p><br/>Despite the cell being so poorly lit, Minji could see the blood dribbling onto the cell floor. The redhead could barely watch anymore.</p><p>
  <em>’Oh Gods. Please do not die on me Bora.’</em>
</p><p>The woman she so dearly loved caressed her softly, ridding the perspiration from her brow. She jerked away from the light touch, cowering into Minji further; breath escaping in short, ragged gasps as her screams quietened down to tearful whimpers.</p><p>“M-Minji,” she cried, “I’m dying.”</p><p>“You must stay with me,” Minji cradled her head against her chest. “Please.”</p><p>“Gahyeonnie...,” gasped Bora. “You must take care of Gahyeonnie.” Another wave of pain pulsated through her and she convulsed slightly, her forehead slicked with perspiration.</p><p>“What are you saying Lee Bora, you will take care of her thyself.”</p><p>“Minji...,” she hacked out, breath becoming more laboured.</p><p>
  <em>‘I love you.’ </em>
</p><p>She wanted to say. But this kind of love was forbidden.</p><p>The Queen stared down at the women exchanging what she thought were final words. The prisoner, Bora, seemed to be in such a dire state. Usually this would please her, and then her sadistic needs would be met. But something about the sight bothered her.</p><p>The way Minji held the prisoner so close to her heart and cupped her face, whispering so intimately by her ear ignited a feeling in her own chest. A feeling she could not recognise.</p><p>“Yoohyeon, please,” Minji angled her tear-filled gaze upwards.</p><p>The way the redhead called her by first name caused a dull ache to pang against her chest. But why?</p><p><em>‘What’s with these feelings all of sudden, Kim Yoohyeon?’ </em>The Queen chastised herself.</p><p>Another hacking cough from the prisoner thwarted her thoughts. Kim Minji’s glossy eyes were still upon her. “Please, Your Majesty! She needs a healer!”</p><p>The Queen’s lips pursed together in a thin line. She lifted her palm, and stared at the prisoner’s blood that had stained her delicate hands before averting her gaze away completely.</p><p>“Fine,” The Queen deadpanned. “I will send for a healer.” Kim Yoohyeon turned with an overly dramatic sweep of her cape, dust billowing, and exited the cell.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi everyone. </p><p>As you may have noticed there is now a co-creator attached to this work (Dragon_Fly_Act). That is because I have decided to stop writing fanfiction in order to focus on the publication of my first book. This does not mean the end of this story! I have given Act the overall storyline plot and excerpts I have written for future chapters. Whilst I may not be writing this anymore, Act will being continuing this story. </p><p>Act is an upcoming author in her own right, and is improving her writing skills daily. Please, if you can, support Act’s work! She really has potential as an author! </p><p>Lastly I would like to thank everyone who read and left a comment on this work. Your reviews really motivated me to keep on writing and developing this story. I will treasure everyone who supported this work. This, in turn, inspired me to write my first book so I can’t thank the readers and commenters enough. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. </p><p>Please support Act as the new author of ‘The Cursed Queen’. Thank you, farewell and all the best. </p><p>~ BITW001</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Yoohyeon was fidgeting with the cloth napkin; she had never been courted before, always finding that suitors were interested in her wealth, beauty and title of ‘Princess’. <br/>
</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The door to her chambers creaked open. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Is the Princess of Vallerius nervous?” A familiar voice teased. <br/>
</em>
</p><p><em>The Princess caught a glimpse of the fiery red hair she would recognise anywhere. “Minji? What in the hell are you doing here?” <br/>
<br/>
The redhead chuckled wholeheartedly, eyes morphing into moon-shaped crescents,</em> <em>a heart-melting grin found its way to her face. <br/>
<br/>
“My apologies dear Princess,” Minji retorted with the tiniest of smirks. “As your lover, I thought I had unlimited access to your chambers.” <br/>
</em></p><p>
  <em>“<strong>Secret</strong> lover,” Yoohyeon corrected with a sigh. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Minji intertwined their fingers, gently caressing the back of the Princess’ hand.</em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Dear, we have already spoken about this. I do not want us to be a secret either but if the King and Queen find out-“ </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I know, I know,” Yoohyeon deadpanned. “I will bring shame upon the Kim Dynasty, be excommunicated from the Royal House and labelled a ‘woman-lover’.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“So run away with me,” the redhead offered. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Minji you know I cannot just abandon my royal duties like that. I am to be Queen one day.” </em>
</p><p><em>“If your parents will not allow you to rule with the person you love is it even truly worth it?” </em> </p><p>
  <em>Tears escaped from the Princess, Minji’s words hitting hard and true. “I do not want to see you hurt because of me,” Yoohyeon wept softly. “The King will hurt you if he finds out about our relationship.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“So be it then.” She had accepted her fate. “Let him hurt me for falling in love with his beautiful, kind daughter because, no matter what dear, I promise to stay with you throughout your entire reign as Queen.”  </em>
</p><p>“<em>They will arrange a marriage for me. They will-“ </em></p><p>
  <em>The older woman bent down, bringing their lips together. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I love you,” Minji mumbled breathlessly against her lips. The light touch sent shivers through the Princess’ nerves, shivers that made her whole body tremble. Shivers that caused her entire body to tingle. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“If you want me to stop, tell me now," the redhead  whispered, giving her lover another quick peck. <br/>
</em>
</p><p><em>The Princess still said nothing, seemingly shocked by the older woman’s actions. Minji </em> <em>brushed her mouth against the hollow of Yoohyeon’s temple leaving behind a trail of wetness. </em></p><p>
  <em> "Or now." Minji traced the line of her cheekbone with peppered kisses. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Or now." The older woman placed another gentle peck to the Princess’ lips.</em>
</p><p><em>"Or—" </em> <em>Yoohyeon reached up and pulled her lover down to her. </em></p><p>
  <em>“I love you too.” </em>
</p><p><em>The rest of the Princess’ words were lost against her lover’s mouth. </em> <em>Minji kissed her gently, carefully, but it wasn’t gentleness Yoohyeon wanted, not now, not after all the lies and secrets.</em></p><p>
  <em> The Princess knotted her fists into the redhead’s blouse, pulling her impossibly closer. Minji groaned softly, low in her throat, her arms encircling Yoohyeon in a warm embrace refusing to let her go. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Minji,” the Princess cried, against her lips, “make love to me, please?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Love of my life,” Minji gasped, “are you sure?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>”Yes,” Yoohyeon tearfully nodded. “I want you.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>”If that is what you wish, Princess.” </em>
</p>
<hr/><p>From the Queen’s chambers came the sound of hysterical crying, screaming sobs only pausing for when the person needed an intake of breath.</p><p><em>‘Is that Yoohyeon crying?’</em> Dami pressed her ear against the door. Indeed it was. ‘<em>But what for? What over?’</em></p><p>Dami had not seen nor heard Yoohyeon cry like that in years. In recent times the Queen held no emotion whatsoever doing whatever she felt like to satiate her sadistic needs.</p><p>The last time she hysterically sobbed and effectively trashed her chambers was when her “best friend”, Kim Minji, ran away. Within the same week Yoohyeon’s parents, the King and Queen of Vallerius, mysteriously disappeared and were never seen again. It was concluded that they had perished.</p><p>Scholars, royals and townspeople alike claimed that it was that fateful week that turned Yoohyeon into a tyrannical sadist. Dami knew better. Something was clearly wrong.</p><p>The light from her eyes had faded.</p><p>In the years that followed, she never once heard the Queen laugh or crack jokes. Now the only thing that brought a smile to the Queen’s face was inflicting suffering on the city and tormenting everyone who lived it. The Yoohyeon she knew could never even harm a fly, let alone torture and slaughter innocents. Dami sighed, perhaps one day the true Kim Yoohyeon would return. The one who was kind and caring.</p><p>The smashing of porcelain thwarted the knight’s thoughts.<em> ‘Was Yoohyeon throwing another one of her fits? Oh Gods she could hurt herself.’</em> Dami hastily turned the doorknob, entering unnoticed.</p><p>She was greeted with a ceramic vase hurtling towards her head. Luckily, she ducked in time and the vase smashed into the door behind her. She shielded her face when the shards exploded everywhere, thanking the Gods for the quick reflexes they had given her.</p><p>“For crying out loud Kim Yoohyeon, that almost struck me!”</p><p>“Dami,” The Queen sniffled, momentarily regathering her composure. “I did not hear you come in.”</p><p>“I have the stealth of an assassin,” the knight shrugged, “it does not surprise me that you neglected to notice me enter.”</p><p>The Queen nodded her head in agreement. A shaky sigh escaped her lips before she used the back of her hand to wipe at her eyes.</p><p>“You’ve been crying,” Dami noticed her bloodshot eyes. “What’s the matter?” The knight did not want to pry into the Queen’s personal life.</p><p>“Nothing,” Yoohyeon waved her off. “And I do not cry.”</p><p>“To tell you the truth, I actually heard you crying. Do not lie to me. We have known each other since childhood, which means I know when you seem perturbed by something.”</p><p>Another sigh, escaped the Queen’s lips. “My temper bested me.”</p><p>“Yes, dear friend, I can clearly see that you have thrown another one of your fits just by viewing the state of this room.”</p><p>Yoohyeon rolled her eyes. “Ever so hilarious, Dami.”</p><p>Dami could see her hands shaking beneath her cape. “Are you hurt?” The knight eyed her cautiously.</p><p>“No why would I be?” The Queen responded as emotionless as ever.</p><p>“What did you do to your hand then? ‘Tis bleeding.”</p><p>“Bora said that I was dim-witted.”</p><p>“Who?” The knight frowned. </p><p>“Lee Bora,” Yoohyeon minced through gritted teeth, “the leader of the rebellion.”</p><p><em>‘And Minji’s new lover,’ </em>she silently...bitterly added. </p><p>“The rebellion leader is not Minji?”</p><p>“We were wrong it seems. Bora said that I was dim-witted so I made her suffer. The blood on my hands is hers not my own, friend. So need not worry.”</p><p><em>‘That poor Bora girl.’</em> Dami inwardly sighed. Despite the years that had passed, the knight still did not understand why Yoohyeon was hellbent on violence and suffering instead of trying to resolve things peacefully.</p><p>“Send my personal healer to the palace prison,” Queen Yoohyeon ordered.</p><p>“Handong?” Dami furrowed her brow. “But she is the palace healer. She only tends to you and the Queen’s Guard.”</p><p>“Yes, thank you. I am aware of that,” Yoohyeon snapped. “Send her to save Lee Bora.”</p><p>Dami nearly physically reeled from the command.</p><p>‘<em>Yoohyeon is sending her personal healer to save the prisoner she nearly tortured to death? Is she plotting something? Could this be a sign of...remorse?’</em></p><p>“Earth to Dami,” The Queen clicked her fingers in front of her face. “Earth to Dami.”</p><p>“Alright, that can be arranged but I came to find you because we may have a slight situation.”</p><p>“What do you mean by ‘slight situation’?”</p><p>“Er...,” Dami clutched at the nape of her neck nervously, “the townspeople got a little raucous and one of them fought and defeated Siyeon.”</p><p>“What? Where is Siyeon now?”</p><p>“You must promise not to throw anything at my head,” Dami jokingly wagged a finger.</p><p>Yoohyeon slapped her hand away. “Enough of this nonsense, where is she?”</p><p>“Lee Siyeon is missing. The Queen’s Guard are searching for her.”</p><p>For the second time that evening she thanked the Gods for her quick reflexes, another vase hurtling towards her head before shattering into oblivion.</p><p>“Well do not just stand there like a stunned fool, find her!”</p><p>“Right away Your Majesty!” Dami bowed, and scurried off.</p>
<hr/><p>Siyeon stirred, finally awakening.</p><p>Dusk had arrived. A cold, malevolent air howled across the now completely deserted town square.</p><p>Blinking away her grogginess, she attempted to remember what happened. One moment she was on the front lines, pushing the townspeople back. The next, some daring firecracker caught her off- guard and defeated her in combat.</p><p>Siyeon groaned as she forced herself to sit upright. A thick fog was rolling in, blanketing the city of Vallerius. The blonde knight silently cursed at the sudden lack of sight. If she could not see. She could not fight. She was defenceless.</p><p>The smell of blood invaded her nostrils. It was overwhelming, overpowering. The stench was so strong that Siyeon began to heave and retch, suddenly remembering the screams of slaughtered innocents that would forever be etched in her memory. The archers had released their arrows upon the townspeople.<br/>
<br/>
All she could hear was the squelch and occasional crunch of her boots as she blindly tried to make her way back to the palace.<br/>
Shadowy figures lay lifeless all around her. The mangled and disfigured forms of men, women and children. Townspeople and royal guards alike.</p><p>
  <em>‘Slaughtered.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘They have all been slaughtered.’</em>
</p><p>Her heartbeat thumped so violently that it threatened to deafen her. The streets of Vallerius had been stained red with the blood of innocents. She felt so far away from her body. So far away from reality. The streets were more like a battlefield.</p><p>Siyeon heaved. She was going to be sick.</p><p>There were voices calling. Lit torches bobbed up and down in the distance as people scurried around searching for survivors. Siyeon knew there weren’t any.</p><p>Her hand flew to her face, cupping her mouth as she retched once again. When she was sure she would not empty the contents of her stomach, she moved her hand away only to look down and see blood.</p><p>
  <em>‘Blood? Whose blood? Is it mine? It must be mine.’</em>
</p><p>Siyeon was not a soldier. Sure she was well versed in combat but her role was by the Queen’s side. Siyeon was her protector. Her Right Hand who dealt with prisoners. She had never endured a battle before, nor had she witnessed the carnage of a battlefield.</p><p>“Keep searching! She must be out here somewhere.” The muffled voices seemed nearer.</p><p>
  <em>‘They’re dead.’</em>
</p><p>Siyeon hunched over, her legs becoming wobbly as the ground swayed beneath her.<br/>
<br/>
<em>‘Everyone’s dead.’</em></p><p>Siyeon’s legs buckled, the realisation becoming too much to bear. Before she collapsed, strong arms caught her.</p><p>“Easy there, friend. I do not want you to faint.”</p><p>“D-Dami...,” Siyeon stuttered as her fellow knight supported the entirety of her weight.</p><p>“Save your strength,” the knight shushed her. “The Queen wants to see you.”</p>
<hr/><p>Siyeon had not uttered a single word after Dami had found her.</p><p>The knight had torn away the clean part of her tunic, instructing Siyeon to press the fabric against the facial wound to ease the bleeding. Siyeon complied.</p><p>“I cannot believe thou were bested in combat,” Dami huffed as she carried the entirety of the other woman’s weight.</p><p>
  <em>‘Innocent lives. Slaughtered. Why? Why them and not I?’</em>
</p><p>The fog that blanketed Vallerius was tinged scarlet. A brutal, tragic reminder of the innocent lives lost and the subsequent carnage that had taken place.</p><p>Siyeon kept her head bowed, not wanting to see the judgemental stares from all the other royal officials. They would view her as an utter disgrace and failure for allowing the townspeople to revolt and defeat the first battalion of the Queen’s Guard.</p><p><em>‘Yoohyeon will punish me greatly for such a failure.’</em> Siyeon thought numbly.</p><p>As her fellow knight led her through the palace, tears stung at her eyes. She did not want to face Yoohyeon nor be left alone her. Siyeon despised the private time she shared with the Queen.</p><p>“Please do not leave me alone with her,” Siyeon rasped when they finally arrived outside the Queen’s chambers.</p><p>“I have my orders, and so do you,” Dami responded ever so dully.</p><p>
  <em>‘So we will both remain puppets. The Queen’s puppets. What have we gotten ourselves into, friend?’</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>Yoohyeon frantically paced back and forth.</p><p>
  <em>‘A townsperson defeated Siyeon. My Siyeon. Is she going to be alright? I should not have ordered the archers to release. What happens if my actions have killed her?. Or worse... what if she is lying maimed in a ditch somewhere? Gods, please let her come back to me in one piece. And that townsperson...if they were alive I would have them beaten for even thinking of harming Siyeon.’</em>
</p><p>“Sit down before your nervousness makes me sick,” the healer chided the Queen.</p><p>“Handong I swear to the Gods if you do not quieten down-“</p><p>The door suddenly slammed open, and Dami rushed in.</p><p>“Siyeon,” Yoohyeon’s face paled drastically.</p><p>“A little bit of assistance over here would be greatly appreciated,” Dami grunted, struggling with her fellow knight’s deadweight.</p><p>Handong immediately rushed to hold the door open. “I thought you went to arrest Minji, how in the hell did <em>this</em> happen?”</p><p>“There was a riot,” Dami quickly explained.</p><p>“Gods,” Handong pinched the bridge of her nose in stress.</p><p>The Queen’s fumbling hands reached up to assess the bloodied wound on Siyeon’s face, “she’s hurt.”</p><p>“Where?” Handong was tending to Siyeon in an instant. “Let me see your face.” </p><p>“ ‘Tis nothing,” the knight grumbled, swatting away the lanky hands that reached for her face. “I said ‘tis nothing.”</p><p>
  <em>‘It’s nothing compared to what you do to me, Yoohyeon.’</em>
</p><p>“Lay her down on the bed,” Handong ordered, moving hastily to prepare her remedies.</p><p>Yoohyeon watched in complete awe as Handong transformed into a woman who knew no fear. When an injured, sick or dying person was brought to her, the healer always leapt into action. ‘Twas her calling. But then she remembered her promise to Minji.</p><p>“Handong, you must go to the palace prison. Go to Minji’s cell and treat the wounded. I will tend to Siyeon.”</p><p>“Your Majesty?” Handong frowned, halting the preparation of the herbal remedies.</p><p>“I may have lost control earlier and further wounded a prisoner. I want her alive for questioning so go and tend to her,” Yoohyeon ordered.</p><p>“Go Handong,” Dami reassured, “Yoohyeon and I will help Siyeon.”</p><p>The healer collected her materials, quickly placing them into her ruck sack. “If I am needed, you know my whereabouts.”</p><p>Handong threw her sack over her shoulder, darting out of the room in a rush. The door slammed shut behind her, leaving the Queen and her knights alone.</p><p>There was an eerie silence, one only filled with Siyeon’s shaky gasps whilst the Queen glared across at her Right Hand. “What in the blue hell happened out there?”</p><p>Dami watched as her leader visibly flinched from the harshness of Yoohyeon’s voice.</p><p>“I...I,” Siyeon stuttered. “I apologise Your Majesty.”</p><p><br/>
“You damn well should be apologising for making a fool of me, and for allowing thyself to get hurt,” Yoohyeon fumed.</p><p>“Your Majesty, she did her best,” Dami defended her fellow knight. “It was absolute chaos out there and the townsperson she fought was a skilled fighter.”</p><p>“A skilled fighter you say?”</p><p>Siyeon nodded whilst Dami reported about the situation. “She was small but fierce with ebony locks.”</p><p>“She?” The Queen’s eyes narrowed. “Can either of you give me a name?”</p><p>“Minji called out for her,” Siyeon said softly, “that is all I remember before being overcome by the raucous crowd.”</p><p>
  <em>‘Lee Bora...Was she the one who had left Siyeon in such a state? Was she the one behind the failure in the town square? That peasant would pay for her insurrection.’</em>
</p><p>“After Handong tends to Bora, I want you both to prepare her flogging.”</p><p>Siyeon’s head perked up. “There has been enough bloodshed, why must we hurt innocents?”</p><p>“Siyeon you do not get to question me or my authority after the utter horseshit you pulled out there today,” The Queen yelled as the knight bowed her head meekly.</p><p>“I’m s-sorry,” the knight apologised.</p><p>“And Bora is not innocent,” Yoohyeon deadpanned. “She committed treason.”</p><p>“B-But you ordered the archers to release on the people and on your knights,” Siyeon muttered quietly. “They are yours to protect and you slaughtered them like animals.”</p><p>“Your Majesty,” Dami leapt to Siyeon’s defence again. “I think Siyeon needs her rest. ‘Tis been a rather traumatic evening for her. I should accompany her to her chambers.”</p><p>“I decide when she rests,” The Queen snapped. “Dami, I want you to stand guard outside my chambers tonight. No one must enter,” Queen Yoohyeon commanded.</p><p><em>‘Please do not leave me alone with her.’ </em><br/>
Siyeon’s words from earlier struck the younger knight suddenly.</p><p>“Your Majesty,” Dami tried again but Yoohyeon raised her hand to silence her.</p><p>“She will stay with me and that is final. Now get out,” Yoohyeon venomously spat.</p><p>“Dami,” the older knight’s jaw muscle twitched, eyes downcast. “I will be alright.”</p><p>
  <em>‘No. No you won’t be. I know how this ends. It ends with you hurting, friend.’</em>
</p><p>Dami was by the door, a dull ache forming in her chest at the thought of leaving Siyeon alone with the unstable Queen.</p><p>“If either of you need anything I will be outside.”</p><p>The door clicked shut behind her.</p><p>Dami ran both hands through her hair, fingers gripping at rose-gold locks tightly.</p><p>Every time something did not go according to plan, Yoohyeon would ask for Siyeon. And every time Dami would try and come up with an excuse to separate the two, only to fail. The knight could only try to save Siyeon from the Queen’s wrath.</p><p>“Gods damn it,” Dami muttered ruefully, knowing what was about to befall of her leader.</p><p>The knight would stand guard outside the Queen’s chambers for the rest of the evening whilst Siyeon’s cries and screams would forever be etched into her memory.</p>
<hr/><p>“There,” Yoohyeon patted the cloth down, making sure that the bandage was secured in place. The tiniest of smiles appeared on her face.</p><p>“My dear, scars only make you more attractive.”</p><p>Siyeon shrunk under the Queen’s gaze who observed her recently bandaged wound.<br/>
Yoohyeon eyed the bandage with displeasure.</p><p>“Bora sliced up your beautiful face and marred your perfect skin.”</p><p>“Must you flog her for hurting me? What will that achieve?” The knight kept her eyes downcast, and head bowed meekly.</p><p>Her heart thudded so violently against her ribcage that it threatened to leap from her throat. The Queen’s brows were furrowed in a clear state of concern, but Siyeon knew that this was one of Yoohyeon’s many mind games.</p><p>When lanky hands reached for her wounded face she flinched, recoiling from the touch with a shaky gasp. Tears stung at her eyes as her heart thumped impossibly harder against her ribcage, the sheer fear of the unknown taking its physical toll.</p><p>“Bora led the charge against you. She nearly had you killed.”</p><p><em>‘You were the one who ordered the archers to release arrows whilst my battalion were still trying to hold the line.’</em> Siyeon’s thoughts were bitter.</p><p>Gentle hands fluttered their way up to Siyeon’s face and still the knight could not bring herself to meet Yoohyeon’s gaze. The Queen pressed her lips to the knight’s bandaged cheek lightly, hoping to expel the pain from her body.</p><p>“Are you hurt elsewhere? Because if you are I shall pay Bora another visit.”</p><p>Siyeon shook her head.</p><p>“Remove your armour,” Yoohyeon ordered. “I want to make sure you aren’t hurt elsewhere.”</p><p>“I...I...,” Siyeon began to stutter, nerves chewing away at her entire being. “I don’t want to.”</p><p>The Queen’s eyes narrowed. “It is unlike you to disobey me like this, but regardless I respect your wishes.”</p><p>“T-Thank you Your Majesty,” Siyeon bowed her head slightly. “I-I would also like to go back to my chambers now.”</p><p>“I almost lost you today,” Yoohyeon confessed with a solemn expression. “Thus you will stay with me this evening.”</p><p>“If that is what you wish,” the knight kept her head bowed, partially in order to hide the tears that now streamed down her cheeks. She despised being in the Queen’s presence especially when things did not go to plan.</p><p>Siyeon’s shoulders shook uncontrollably as she began to cry. Kim Yoohyeon would not be letting her go back to her chambers.</p><p>“Siyeon,” Yoohyeon called, “stop crying and get ahold of your emotions. You are the leader of the Queen’s Guard for Gods’ sake.”</p><p>“My duty is to protect you,” Siyeon blubbered. “I am not a soldier.”</p><p>“I know,” the Queen’s tone softened.</p><p>“I have never seen such carnage,” the knight was crying freely now.</p><p>Yoohyeon closed the small space between them.</p><p>“Siyeon,” the Queen was so close that the knight could feel her hot breath on her own lips. “Perhaps this will ease your tears.”</p><p>The Queen slipped her tongue through Siyeon’s slightly parted lips, kissing the knight with a fervent urgency. Once, twice, thrice. Harder and deeper.</p><p>The knight furrowed her brows, her already chapped lips beginning to sting and bruise from the roughness of the Queen’s kisses. Siyeon attempted to pull away.</p><p>“If you want me to stop, tell me now," Yoohyeon whispered.</p><p>When the knight said nothing, deft fingers reached up to grip her blonde locks before Yoohyeon crashed their lips together again.</p><p>Siyeon winced, her scalp aching from the Queen’s relentless grip on her hair. She knotted her fists into Yoohyeon’s shirt, pushing her away.</p><p>“Stop.” Siyeon’s eyes were deadly as she held Yoohyeon at an arms-length.</p><p>The Queen stopped her ministrations immediately.</p><p>“What is the matter with you this evening, my dear? You have never said no to me like this.”</p><p>“I know why you brought me here, and ’tis not because you care for my wellbeing,” the knight cried.</p><p>“That is not true,” Yoohyeon was deeply offended, “I do care.”</p><p>“You have an interesting way of showing affection.”</p><p>Siyeon wiped at her tears. She had to be strong. She had to stand up for what was right. No more crying.</p><p>“You almost killed me with your archers today but instead of admitting that, you want to blame that Bora girl.”</p><p>Yoohyeon rose from the bed, eyes ablaze with anger.</p><p>“Do you even understand how difficult it was for me to give the order whilst knowing you were still down there?!”</p><p>“Apparently not very difficult,” Siyeon sniffled.</p><p>The Queen scoffed audibly.</p><p>“You actually think I had the intention to harm you? Ever since Dami told me you were missing I have been worried sick!”</p><p>The knight ignored her throbbing body and stood up.</p><p>“I am not just talking about today!”</p><p>“Elaborate on your words, Lee Siyeon,” Yoohyeon deadpanned.</p><p>“I do not want to be treated like this! I refuse to be used for your sadistic desires!” Siyeon shouted.</p><p>“Is this what you truly think?!” Yoohyeon’s voice raised up another notch. “That I do not love you?!”</p><p>“For the thousandth time Yoohyeon, this is not love. I do not love you. Not anymore. Not since you have become <em>this</em>.” Siyeon ran a hand through her blonde locks in utter frustration. “Truth be told? I despise you with every inch of my being after what you have done to me, your people and now that Bora girl.”</p><p>“W-what?”</p><p>“Every time something does not go according to plan I am called here!” Siyeon’s voice cracked from the bellowing. “This is not love! You do not have the capacity to care about anyone or anything!”</p><p>Siyeon paced away from her, hand running through her hair in a futile attempt to keep the bubbling anger under control.</p><p>“But I do care!“ Yoohyeon screamed after her. “I care about you!”</p><p>“No,” Siyeon stormed back jabbing a finger at the Queen. “No you do not! All you care about is inflicting pain on people for your sadistic pleasure! That is why you brought me here tonight! To inflict pain!”</p><p>Yoohyeon swatted the knight’s hand away. “Have you lost your ever loving mind?!”</p><p>“Have you?!” Siyeon countered. “There are women and children lying dead in the streets because of you! They are the innocent people you are supposed to protect!”</p><p>“Perhaps if you had done your job properly instead of getting your arse handed to you by Bora, I would not have commanded the archers to release their arrows in the first place!”</p><p>It was Siyeon’s turn scoff. “There it is again. Always blaming me for <em>your</em> failures!” </p><p>The Queen jabbed an accusatory finger at the knight. “That is horseshit and you know it, Siyeon.”</p><p>“There were women and children amongst the slain, Yoohyeon! Women and children! Innocent blood has stained the streets of Vallerius, and what for?! All for your cruel amusement!”</p><p>“For my cruel amusement?! Oh how wrong you are!” The Queen chuckled bitterly. “Minji and Bora committed treason! They acted this way to sabotage the Crown! It is not my fault that your incompetence on the front lines led to Bora breaking your formation and the subsequent carnage that followed!”</p><p>“No, no. I refuse to let you pin these deaths on me! I told you to secretly arrest Minji to avoid the chaos but you never abide my counsel!”</p><p>“I do not need to abide by your counsel,” Yoohyeon spat, “I am the Queen!”</p><p>“Then start behaving like a Queen!”</p><p>The slap that followed stung at her face.</p><p>Yoohyeon struck her bandaged cheek with a loud clap. The knight staggered backwards, clutching at her wound, eyes welling up with tears.</p><p>Immediately, the Queen’s hands flew to cup her mouth. Yoohyeon had spotted the crimson liquid seeping through the bandage and dribbling down the length of the knight’s face.</p><p>“Siyeon, I-“ Yoohyeon tried to close the space between them but the knight pushed her away.</p><p>“I told you,” Siyeon choked out, “this is not love.”</p><p>Seeing her own blood staining her palms for what seemed like the thousandth time was enough for her to reach for the door handle.</p><p>“Siyeon, wait....please,” Yoohyeon begged, clutching onto the older girl’s forearm. “Believe me, I do love you.”</p><p>Tears stung at her weary eyes. “The only thing you love is seeing me in pain.” She shoved the Queen back to sit on the bed before storming towards the exit.</p><p>“Siyeon...Siyeon! You dare walk out that door and it will be you who receives Bora’s flogging instead!”</p><p>The knight’s lips curved into a sad smile, knuckles turning white from gripping the door handle ever so tightly.</p><p>“I do not fear your threats. You have already hurt me countless times...in a variety of ways.”</p><p>"Siyeon," the Queen was on the verge of tears, "where are you going?! Get back here this instant!”</p><p>“I am going to fix what you have done. I am going to save Bora."</p>
<hr/><p>Minji began to wonder if any healers were coming.</p><p>Surely her pleas had gotten through. Surely the true Kim Yoohyeon was still alive despite the sadistic tyrant she had become. Minji had faith that the woman she once loved with the entirety of her heart still had a smidgen of humanity left in her.</p><p>Yoohyeon, the real Yoohyeon, would have sent a healer in a heartbeat.</p><p>
  <em>‘Is this her idea of punishment? Leaving me here to watch my childhood friend die?’</em>
</p><p>“Minji?” Bora rasped. Tears stained her battered cheeks. The croaky voice was enough to snap the redhead’s thoughts away from the Queen.</p><p>Bora was dying.</p><p>Minji struggled to keep her cries hidden.</p><p>“Yes?” she choked out.</p><p>The tiniest of smiles appeared on Bora’s face as if she had already accepted her fate.</p><p>“Minji nobody is coming to help me.”</p><p>“Don’t say that,” Minji cried. “Somebody will come.”</p><p>“Min-“ she was cut off by a hacking cough, her chest heaved as she spluttered and gurgled, blood leaking from the corner of her lips.</p><p>“Please Gods no,” Minji begged to whatever higher power there was.</p><p>She winced as another rattling cough escaped from Bora, straining her already beaten body to new limits. The rebellion leader closed her eyes, screwing them shut tightly as she held onto Bora’s convulsing frame.</p><p>“Minji,” Bora said hoarsely. “Promise me that you and Gahyeon will take care of each other.”</p><p>“No, please, no,” Minji’s tears were everywhere. “You must hold on. A healer will be here soon.”</p><p>“Please,” Bora gasped out, “promise me.”</p><p>The rebellion leader nodded in quick succession. No words could come out of her mouth as a choking sob escaped her. Minji cradled the younger woman impossibly closer against her chest.</p><p>“This is my entire fault,” Minji cried out. “I should have never dragged you into this. I should have never started this rebellion. I’m so, so sorry Bora.”</p><p>A soft hand reached her cheek, dabbing away her tears. “I forgive you for everything, Minji.”</p><p>The waterworks had begun, Bora was crying freely too. Tears mixed with her blood and sweat.</p><p>“As long as you are safe,” Bora whimpered, tough bravado faltering as her brow contorted in a silent agony. “It was worth it. You were worth it.”</p><p>“I never asked you to die for me,” Minji wailed. “I never wanted-“ The redhead’s words were tangled up in her cries.</p><p>The guilt swallowed Minji whole. Even when death threatened to take her from the world, Bora had still forgiven her. Still held concern for her. <em>Still loved her.</em></p><p>A soft hand caressed the older woman’s face in an attempt to provide her with some sort of comfort. Through her half-lidded gaze, Bora stared up at the woman she loved so dearly with her one uninjured eye, determined to commit every delicate feature of Minji’s face to memory.</p><p>“Perhaps we will meet again in another life,” Bora choked out, before another hacking cough escaped her.</p><p>“No,” Minji’s vision blurred from the sheer amount of tears she was shedding. The walls that held her up, that made her a strong leader, completely collapsed. Moment by moment, brick by brick, they fell.</p><p>“Will you hold me until I-“</p><p>“Don’t talk like that,” Minji despaired. “Please, don’t.”</p><p>“Then hold me,” Bora croaked. “Please?”</p><p>The rebellion leader nodded in quick succession for the second time, salty drops falling from her chin and into Bora’s hair.<br/>
The younger woman had been hugged before, but never like this. There was something so warm, something that felt right. Her body sagged, muscles finally loosening as the tension released from her body. Minji respected her as an equal but cradled her like a cherished child with such care and gentleness.</p><p>Fresh tears escaped the younger woman’s eyes at the mere tenderness from Minji’s touch. Again, she attempted to commit the comforting feeling to her memory one final time.</p><p>“Minji it’s okay,” Bora reassured tearfully. “It’s okay.”</p><p>The redhead leaned down, pressing her forehead against Bora’s. Minji could not stop trembling. She could not stop sobbing. Even as she placed a chaste kiss to Bora’s cheek, she could not prevent a cry from escaping.</p><p>
  <em>’No. This is far from okay. Please don’t take her from me.’</em>
</p><p>There was slight movement from the small girl wrapped in Minji’s embrace. With little strength left, her tiny hand reached to her neck and tugged off what appeared to be a silver necklace.</p><p>“Take it,” Bora wheezed, breath escaping in laboured pants as she shakily clasped onto Minji’s hand. “Gahyeon gave it to me...for good luck and protection...I don’t think it worked ...” She chuckled bitterly as another cough rattled her tiny frame. </p><p>This time crimson spewed from both corners of her mouth, her voice barely audible through the gurgles in her throat.</p><p>“I’m giving it to you now,” Bora rasped out, barely hanging onto consciousness. “I hope...it protects you.”</p><p>“Bora!” Minji shrieked as the younger woman’s half-lidded gaze slowly started to close. “No, no, no! Bora stay with me!”</p><p>The redhead cried, their hands still intertwined and still clasping the amethyst-laced jewellery. Minji’s knuckles turned a ghostly white, mirroring Bora’s skin complexion from all the blood loss.</p><p>“I’m still with you,” Bora slurred, consciousness fading.</p><p>The younger woman’s eyes closed.</p><p>Minji’s gentle hands fluttered up to her face, attempting to rouse her by caressing her cheeks.</p><p>“Wake up, please wake up.”</p><p>
  <em>’I have to slow the bleeding. I have to-‘</em>
</p><p>Another sob tore from Minji’s throat, endless tears streaming down her face. She turned Bora onto her side to access the wound.</p><p>Bora stirred, groaning at the sudden reminder of pain. Minji began to immediately place pressure on the wound to ease the bleeding.</p><p>
  <em>‘Why is she bleeding so much? She wasn’t bleeding this much before.’</em>
</p><p>No matter how hard she pressed, no matter how hard she clamped down on the wound, rivulets of crimson leaked past her fingers and onto the cell floor.</p><p>Bora screamed and flailed in protest, cursing Minji in her state of pain-filled delirium.</p><p><em>‘No...no!’</em> The realisation hit. <em>‘When Yoohyeon twisted the arrow, it must have thrusted further into the flesh and nicked an artery.’</em></p><p>This was beyond her expertise. Beyond her knowledge. Bora needed a healer quick smart. Minji’s head whipped towards the cell door, praying to whatever higher power that Bora could be saved.</p><p>“Somebody help! Please! Anybody! Help!”</p><p>“Minji,” Bora cried out desperately, causing the older woman’s gaze to avert back to her dying comrade.</p><p>“Keep talking to me,” Minji cried, trying everything in her power to keep the younger woman somewhat conscious. “Please stay with me.”</p><p>“I need to tell you something,” Bora whimpered weakly.</p><p>“Anything.”</p><p>“Minji, I love-“</p><p>The cell door burst open.</p><p>The Queen had sent her personal healer. The best of the best.</p><p>“D-Dongie?” Minji froze in utter shock from seeing the healer in their cell.</p><p>“Hello Minji,” Handong greeted, plopping her sack down beside the prisoners immediately. “I’m sorry we must reunite under such dire circumstances.”</p><p>Within moments, Handong ruffled through her sack finding a sterile white sheet before clearing a space in the dirty, scummy cell.</p><p>“Help me move her,” Handong ordered. Minji did not have to be told twice. A flurry of hands reached for the wounded woman, hoisting her onto the sterile sheet before the cell door burst open again.</p><p>“Handong,” the knight huffed, carrying two decently sized pails, “I have brought the water.”</p><p>“Thank you Siyeon,” the healer gave her an appreciative nod.</p><p>“She will also most probably need this.” Siyeon chucked a lengthy, wooden object at the redhead.</p><p>“A bit? Is that really necessary? She’s not an animal!” Minji protested, observing the small, wooden cylindrical object that had teeth indents from previous users.</p><p>“Do you want her to bite her own tongue off when Handong wrenches that arrow out of her?” The knight fired back. Minji shook her head. Of course she did not want that. “Then follow my lead, and lodge that in her mouth.”</p><p>Handong started assessing the gnarly wound on Bora’s thigh whilst ordering the knight to pull a series of herbs and remedies from her sack.</p><p>“Everything will be alright,” Minji cooed by the younger woman’s ear, “hold on for me.”</p><p>A sheen of perspiration slicked over the tiny woman’s body, her brow furrowed in a form of silent agony.</p><p>“Minji,” Bora groaned, “it hurts.”</p><p>Her voice was so small it sounded like a distant echo. The rebellion leader felt as if a sledgehammer had been swung against her chest.</p><p>“Minji,” Bora cried. She wreathed in agony, the wound leaking onto to the white sheet staining it crimson as Minji attempted to place the bit in her mouth as gently as possible.</p><p>“Dongie,” Minji choked down the sob that threatened to tear from her throat. “Isn’t there something we can give her to ease the pain?”</p><p>“There’s no time for that,” Siyeon interjected, sprinkling different herbs and remedies into the brew.</p><p>“Siyeon’s right,” Handong eyed the wound closely. “The arrow is lodged in deep. The flesh is mangled. She is losing a lot of blood.”</p><p>“What does that mean? Can you save her?”Minji questioned, fresh tears subsiding for  the moment.</p><p>“I will try,” Handong crouched down, determined to save a life. </p><p>There was hope.</p><p>
  <em>‘Please hold on Bora. Please.’</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi Dragon_Fly_Act here. </p><p>You can just call me Act.</p><p>This is my first time writing for The Cursed Queen after BITW001 "retired" from writing fanfics. I hope I can be a good replacement for this fic and live up to BITW001's writing style. I will do my very best.</p><p>Trigger warning for this chapter includes blood, death, abuse, mentions of torture, violence read at own risk</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Siyeon despised using roughness to get everything in order but the redhead was struggling to lodge the bit between the prisoner’s teeth.<br/>
<br/>
“Minji, hurry,” Handong urged.<br/>
<br/>
“I can’t,” Minji cried as her hands shook uncontrollably.<br/>
<br/>
”Don’t...don’t,” Bora begged, voice hoarse from all the screaming and crying.<br/>
<br/>
The knight’s hand flew to the prisoner’s chin, gripping tightly in hopes of slackening her tense jaw. A weak hand swatted at her forearm, droopy, swollen eyes cascading with tears stared up at her in desperation. “Please, don’t.”<br/>
<br/>
<em>'I’m sorry. I’m sorry.'</em> Siyeon silently mused, using unwarranted force in order to get Bora’s jaw to slacken.<br/>
<br/>
A strangled sob reached Minji’s ears. The scene before her was too much to bear. With brows creased in an otherworldly pain, Bora struggled against the knight’s iron-grip, whimpering at the force being applied to her already injured face. That was about as much as the rebellion leader could take before she knew she had to intervene.<br/>
<br/>
“Stop it! Stop it!” Minji screeched, fists slamming into the knight’s armour without hesitation. “You’re hurting her!”</p><p>“I’m trying to help!” Siyeon fired back. “What do you suggest we do?!”<br/>
<br/>
“Enough bickering!” Handong interjected. “There’s no time for this!”<br/>
<br/>
“Just let me speak with her,” Minji pleaded.<br/>
<br/>
Siyeon looked to the healer for approval. Handong closed her eyes in a silent agony. With a sigh, she nodded. “Quickly now Minji.”<br/>
<br/>
“Sweetheart,” Minji wept, gentle hands brushing the hair from the smaller woman’s eyes. “Minji,” Bora sobbed out, cries escaping in laboured gasps.<br/>
<br/>
“Shh save your strength. Don’t talk,” Minji cooed softly whilst tenderly caressing her jaw. “Dongie and Siyeon are here to help you. Please listen to them. Can you do that for me?”<br/>
<br/>
Bora winced, a minuscule nod was her response.<br/>
<br/>
“Do it,” Minji tearfully ordered the knight and the healer. “Wrench this thing out of her.” “Can you kiss me first?” Bora whimpered.<br/>
<br/>
The rebellion leader nodded in quick succession for the third time, salty drops falling from her chin and into the younger woman’s hair. As Minji drew closer, Bora could feel her heart thrumming and thudding against her bruised ribcage, the redhead’s hot breath hitting her skin in quick succession.<br/>
<br/>
<em>'Is this the moment where she kisses me?'</em><br/>
<br/>
Mere inches separated them, and Bora’s uninjured eye flickered between the redhead’s luscious lips and caring, glossed-over gaze. Bora’s eyes screwed shut in anticipation, a tiny hand gingerly reaching up to cup the older woman’s flawless face.</p><p><em>'I wish we had more time together.'</em><br/>
<br/>
Then...she felt Minji’s lips...on her cheek. It was a peck. A friendly peck one would give a sister or close friend. Bora gasped, this time from the sudden agony that shot through her chest.<br/>
<br/>
<em>'I love her. I love Kim Minji.'</em><br/>
<br/>
“There,” Minji exhaled shakily.<br/>
<br/>
Bora’s fingers gently ran up the length of her jaw, tiny hand coming to stop to dab away at Minji’s tears. With her thigh in searing agony, Bora glanced back up to the redhead, determined to commit every part of the woman she loved to memory.<br/>
<br/>
“Minji,” Bora gasped out. “Yes?”<br/>
<br/>
“I love you.”<br/>
<br/>
Struggling to stifle a surprised gasp, Minji allowed chapped lips to capture hers. Bora’s lips were firm in comparison to Minji’s, but the kiss remained soft, gentle, slow. It lingered for a few moments, years of pent-up feelings being poured out before Bora drew away, a grimace-like grin marking her features.<br/>
<br/>
“Thank you for allowing me to feel that before-“ the younger woman flinched, collapsing onto the white sheet in a heap with a yelp.<br/>
<br/>
“Bora?” Minji frowned, recovering from her momentary daze. The true rebellion leader intertwined their hands again, both clutching the amethyst necklace tightly. The younger woman was covered in a sheen of perspiration, her breath becoming impossibly shallower and more rugged. “Bora!”<br/>
<br/>
“We have to move, fast!” Siyeon urged, quickly securing the bit in the prisoner’s mouth. “She doesn’t have much time!”</p><p>“Dongie,” Minji despaired, “save her! Save her please!”<br/>
<br/>
“Siyeon!” The healer called. “Hold her legs still for me.”<br/>
<br/>
“On the count of three.” Bora whimpered when Handong’s fingers gripped the nock of the arrow.<br/>
<br/>
“One.”<br/>
<br/>
“Two.”<br/>
<br/>
“Three.”<br/>
<br/>
An unadulterated scream reverberated off the walls of the dingy cell when Handong wrenched the arrow from Bora’s flesh.</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
Nothing could compare to the heart-wrenching, heart-slicing scream that tore from Bora’s throat as Handong removed the intruding weapon.<br/>
<br/>
Siyeon watched the poor girl writhe around in a renewed otherworldly agony. Her mind fast-forwarded through all the information that had been revealed to her in the past few hours. All the pain and suffering that the populace had gone through....that this Bora girl had to go through at the hands of the Queen. The straight-up torture she endured from the Queen’s Guard when they had beaten her senseless upon capture. She hadn’t deserved this.<br/>
<br/>
Her eyes were glued to where Bora lay in a trance-like state. Inconsolable, despairing screams escaped the prisoner’s throat as she clutched at her thigh. The injustice...the abuse...the ear-splitting, poignant wails would be etched in her mind for eternity. It was too much. Too damn much.<br/>
<br/>
“Shit,” Handong cursed when more crimson began to flow from the wound.<br/>
<br/>
“What?” Minji cried out as she tried to still a flailing Bora.</p><p>“I cannot ease the bleeding,” Handong panicked. The healer pressed her palms against the mangled flesh, but there was too much blood spilling past her fingers and cascading across the prisoner’s skin. Bora’s pain-filled cries died down to tearful whimpers when the healer began to work away on the wound. Her eyes scrunched up in a newfound agony and her perspiring head rested against the stone, seemingly in defeat.<br/>
<br/>
Tears stained her cheeks, making her eyes glassy as she muttered her goodbyes to Minji who was distraught. Her heart strained and slowed as it fought to keep her alive. Her skin paled, life slowly, gently, draining from her body like the crimson blood that was staining the pure white sheet beneath her. To die was never her intention, but as long as Minji was safe, as long as Minji was alive, she would never regret taking the Queen’s punishment.<br/>
<br/>
“Bora?!” She could hear Minji calling out to her in the distance. “Bora, stay with me!”<br/>
<br/>
Death came knocking, and for the first time in what felt like days, Bora felt at ease. The mere thought of no longer enduring pain brought her peace of mind. No longer did she have to suffer at the hands of the sadistic Queen.<br/>
<br/>
<em>'Minji...'</em> Was the final thought that coursed through her mind before her body went completely limp.<br/>
<br/>
The dark abyss encompassed her.<br/>
<br/>
“Minji...,” Handong’s voice uncharacteristically wavered. “She’s gone.”<br/>
<br/>
“No, no!”<br/>
<br/>
“I’m sorry, Minji,” Handong choked out, “I’m so sorry.”<br/>
<br/>
“Dongie do something!” Minji wailed. “You have to do something!” She looked to the healer whose own face was wet with tears, and hands stained with blood. Bora’s blood.</p><p>The healer moved to Minji’s side, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder but the rebellion leader was inconsolable. She shrugged it off, scooping Bora’s lifeless frame into her embrace, cradling the younger woman; her violent trembling unrelenting as a thicker flow of tears poured from her eyes.<br/>
<br/>
“Dongie, please!” Minji’s voice was shrill. “Do something!”<br/>
<br/>
“I can’t.” The healer’s hands were still stained crimson with the prisoner’s blood. She raised one of them to wipe away fresh tears that had started to flow. “She’s gone, Minji.”<br/>
<br/>
The rebellion leader sobbed as if all her internal organs were being shredded from the inside. Emotional pain flowed out of her every pore. From her mouth came a cry so raw that even Siyeon’s eyes became wet with tears, and she barely knew Minji or this Bora girl.<br/>
<br/>
“Bora, wake up,” Minji shook the younger woman’s body attempting to rouse her, but Bora’s head limply rested upon her shoulder devoid of any movement. A shaky hand fluttered its way upwards, coming to rest behind Bora’s head. “Please wake up.”<br/>
<br/>
Siyeon felt Handong rise quickly, seemingly unable to bear the situation that had transpired. The healer hastily made her way to the door, the knight trailing behind her. Siyeon grasped at Handong’s forearm, whirling her around and ultimately preventing her from leaving the cell.<br/>
<br/>
“Where are you going?” Siyeon hoarsely asked.<br/>
<br/>
Handong was crying freely now. Not only had she failed as a healer, but she had failed her childhood friend. The healer did not know the history between Bora and Minji, but judging by what had just transpired the two were extremely close. This Bora girl legitimately loved Minji, so much so that she was willing to give up her own life.<br/>
“I wanted to give Minji some private time,” Handong sniffled, “before the guards come and remove the body.”</p><p>“We can still fix this,” the knight was determined.<br/>
<br/>
“How can we fix this, Siyeon?” Handong despaired. “I am the best healer and spell-caster in the realm and even I still managed to fail. Perhaps I do not deserve my title.”<br/>
<br/>
“Do not talk like that Dongie,” Siyeon soothed, placing a comforting yet firm hand on the healer’s shoulder. “We can reverse what Yoohyeon did. We can bring Bora back. All thou has to do is cast the spell.”<br/>
<br/>
Handong’s eyes widened in shock at the suggestion. “You know I cannot do that Siyeon.”<br/>
<br/>
“Why not?” The knight questioned. “You are the most talented healer and spell-caster in the realm you said so thyself.”<br/>
<br/>
“You know I cannot!” Handong countered. “That spell is specifically reserved for the Queen!”<br/>
<br/>
“Fuck the Queen!” Siyeon’s voice rose, a sense of injustice rising to a pinnacle. “How many innocents have to die because of her? How much blood has to be spilled before someone does something?”<br/>
<br/>
“Siyeon...,” Handong warned.<br/>
<br/>
“This is our chance to do something. To fix this. To save Bora.”<br/>
<br/>
The healer breathed shakily through her nose. “If I cast this spell, I will never be able to cast it again.”<br/>
<br/>
“I know,” the knight sighed, “but at least one life can be saved from today’s carnage.”</p><p>The knight and the healer could hear Minji’s agonising wails as she held Bora’s lifeless frame close, unwilling to let the younger woman go.<br/>
“Bora, please,” Minji begged, her tears were everywhere. “Wake up dammit. Wake up.”<br/>
<br/>
Handong dabbed at her own tears with the back of her hand seemingly unable to cope with the fact that her childhood friend had lost someone so dear to her all because she had failed at her duty.<br/>
<br/>
“I cannot do this,” Handong backed away from the heartbreaking scene, unable to stomach it any longer.<br/>
<br/>
The knight was by her side in an instant, strong arms enveloping the healer in a tight embrace. “Listen to me Dongie,” Siyeon soothed, her hand patting the back of the healer’s head in comfort. “What happened to Bora was not your fault.”<br/>
<br/>
“But I failed,” Handong mumbled against the crook of Siyeon’s shoulder, tears escaping freely.<br/>
<br/>
“We all fail sometimes Dongie. In fact, the Queen believes I am the epitome of failure most days so need not worry.”<br/>
<br/>
The healer finally gazed up at Siyeon’s bandaged face. The usual white fabric stained a dark crimson from where the Queen had smacked her earlier. “That is exactly why I worry for you Siyeon,” Handong admitted ruefully. “I am afraid of what the Queen will make you endure if she finds out about this.”<br/>
<br/>
The knight smiled sadly. “I will endure what I always have. ‘Tis nothing new for me.”</p><p>“Are you certain you want to go through with this?” Handong asked in pure concern.<br/>
<br/>
Siyeon nodded solemnly in response. She cleared her throat and sucked in a deep breath of air before turning back to face a grieving Minji. “We can bring Bora back.”<br/>
<br/>
The rebellion leader’s head whipped around, her face completely stained with tears as she still held onto Bora’s lifeless frame. “What?” Minji blubbered. “What do you mean?”<br/>
“Minji,” Handong interjected, kneeling next to the redhead. “There is a spell I can cast.” “A spell?” Minji sniffled.<br/>
<br/>
“Yes. It is to be reserved for the Queen if anything were to happen to her, but we can use it on Bora.”<br/>
<br/>
“You can bring her back to me?”<br/>
<br/>
“We can try, Minji...but there is no guarantee that the spell will work.”<br/>
<br/>
“But there is a chance that it could?” Minji questioned hopefully as the healer nodded in response. “Then we must try.”</p>
<hr/><p>Dami was completely stunned when Siyeon had practically stormed out of the Queen’s chambers in an unstoppable rage, blood leaking from her facial wound. The younger knight did not have the chance to discuss what had happened or ask where on earth Siyeon was going. The Queen was throwing another one of her fits, however, this time was different. The knight watched in horror as Yoohyeon swung a chair into the mirror multiple times.<br/>
<br/>
“I said be quiet! Just be quiet!” The Queen screeched, drawing the chair back before slamming it into the mirror again and again. Shards of glass shattered, spraying everywhere and littering the pristine marble floor. Dami leaped into action immediately wrenching the chair from Yoohyeon’s grasp.</p><p>“Your Majesty, what are you doing?!”<br/>
<br/>
The Queen did not answer, choosing to focus her rage elsewhere. With one sweep of her forearm, she sent the items on the table crashing. She did not stop there. Yoohyeon grabbed the edge of the wooden table, flipping it over with such ferocity that the young knight was sure it would no longer be functional.<br/>
<br/>
“I told you!” A desperate cry tore from the Queen’s throat, hands immediately flying up to clutch at her throbbing head. “I did not intend on harming Siyeon! You...you did this!”<br/>
<br/>
“Yoohyeon,” Dami frowned, taking cautious steps towards her. “Who in the blue hell are you talking to?”<br/>
<br/>
“Get her out,” Yoohyeon pleaded, clutching impossibly tighter at her silver locks. She frantically shook her head from side to side as if she was trying to rid something that was plaguing her. “Get her out!”<br/>
<br/>
The knight quickly surveyed the room, but nobody else was there. “Nobody else is here, Yoohyeon,” Dami inched closer, hands outstretched in mock surrender.<br/>
“Calm thyself and tell me what is going on.”<br/>
<br/>
Dami could feel the Queen’s breath escaping in uneven gasps, silver hair shielding the tears that streamed down her face freely. The knight observed the utter mess that her childhood friend had become. Yoohyeon’s hair was disheveled due to the fact that she had completely trashed her chambers. Dami inched closer, her hands warily reaching out to brush silver locks from The Queen’s face only to reveal that dark circles surrounded her eyes indicating she was having severe bouts of sleep disturbance and deprivation.<br/>
<br/>
“<em>Yubin</em>...”<br/>
<br/>
The Queen called her by her true name. The knight had not heard that name in years. Since they were children to be exact. It seemed odd. The entire situation was peculiar.</p><p>“I do not want to hurt anyone,” Yoohyeon cried. The Queen gazed up at her childhood friend with tired eyes. “Does that make me a weak ruler?”<br/>
<br/>
“Stop this madness,” Dami reached up to brush away lone strands of silver hair.<br/>
<br/>
“I cannot,” Yoohyeon leaned her head towards the knight’s palm with a wince, savouring the touch.<br/>
<br/>
<em>'Something is terribly wrong.'</em><br/>
<br/>
Dami’s brows creased together tightly deepening her frown as she did not understand what the Queen meant by that. <em>'Was she feeling some sort of remorse for her actions? How could she state that she did not want to hurt anyone when all she did was punish and torture? Unless...It is the true Yoohyeon I am speaking with. Dami’s breath hitched. No, it cannot be. None of this makes any sense.'</em><br/>
<br/>
“No, no, no!” The Queen began to clutch at her head again, trembling uncontrollably. “Leave! Leave me alone!”<br/>
<br/>
“Yoohyeon?” Dami called, stilling her shaking shoulders. “Who is bothering you?” The knight’s questions grew urgent. “Tell me.”<br/>
<br/>
“Please help me Yubin,” The Queen begged desperately. “Help me.”<br/>
<br/>
“My Queen I do not understand.” The knight was not one to get emotional but she could feel tears prickling at the corner of her eyes.<br/>
<br/>
“Help me, help me,” Yoohyeon muttered over and over as she sunk to the floor, somehow clutching at her head impossibly harder. Dami sat with the Queen, holding her close as she began to rock back and forth.<br/>
<br/>
“Please speak to me Yoohyeon. What is wrong?”</p><p>There was no answer as Dami wrapped her arms around shaking shoulders, pulling the older woman in close for an embrace.<br/>
<br/>
“Help me, help me.”</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
<br/>
It was a Herculean feat to try and separate Minji from Bora’s lifeless frame. The rebellion leader refused to let go, wanting to be near her at every given second.<br/>
<br/>
“Do not touch her!” Minji had shrieked, teeth bared as she pulled Bora impossibly closer shielding her from any further harm.<br/>
<br/>
“Minji-“<br/>
<br/>
“She stays with me,” Minji growled lowly, refusing to let the younger woman go. Her strong arms wrapped around Bora, eyes flicking between the healer and the knight anxiously as Handong inched closer with hands raised in mock surrender.<br/>
<br/>
“It will be better if...” Handong trailed off mid-sentence, as the rebellion leader looked up at her with glassy eyes.<br/>
<br/>
“Don’t take her away from me again,” Minji cried, her lower lip trembling with every shaky exhale. “Please, just let me hold her, Dongie.”<br/>
<br/>
So, Handong settled for leaving the rebellion leader with Bora, and instead focused on the tougher task at hand.<br/>
<br/>
“Siyeon,” the healer called, “see to the fire.”<br/>
<br/>
The knight solemnly nodded, walking over to the opposite side of the cell before unsheathing her dagger. Minji eyed her warily, unable to trust anybody armed with weaponry after what had befallen Bora. Seemingly looking for something, Siyeon used the dagger to poke at the thick layer of dust covering the cell floor. The knight dragged it along the stone floor, silver glinting noticeably in the dim light as the sound of metal scratched and scrapped against the worn stone floor. Siyeon stopped suddenly, thrusting the dagger into a visibly thin crack, and thus effectively burying the blade up to its hilt. With a grunt, the stone was levered out. Year-long soot build-up billowed into the air as Siyeon waved away the dust particles.<br/>
<br/>
The knight crouched down, sheathing her blade. She lifted the stone slab with another soft grunt. A firepit was revealed filled with aging coals and decaying wood. From the wall nearby, Siyeon grabbed one of the many flaming torches that lit up the cell and tossed it into the pit. Slowly the fire caught with the sound of a soft crackle, filling the dingy cell with woodsmoke.<br/>
<br/>
“Fire is lit.” Siyeon looked to Handong, who is beginning to brew some sort of potion, for further instruction.<br/>
<br/>
“Good,” Handong gave a curt nod whilst placing the pail of water on top of the pit so it could boil. “In order to cast the spell, I am going to need one of Bora’s personal possessions.”<br/>
<br/>
The healer and the knight looked to Minji whose face was wet with tears. “She-she- has no personal possessions,“ the rebellion leader began to cry harder. “The guards stripped us both of anything precious...”<br/>
<br/>
The rebellion leader trailed off mid-sentence as she remembered that earlier when members of the Queen’s Guard had beaten Bora, she had refused to give up the amethyst-laced necklace that her younger sister, Gahyeon, had gifted her. Her refusal had only earned her harsher beatings, but Bora had remained determined to keep the precious chain as it was the only memory she had left of her sister in this newfound hellhole.<br/>
<br/>
“Minji?” Handong called from far off in the distance. “You were saying something?”<br/>
<br/>
The redhead shook her head to rid her mind of the memories. Bora had given her that necklace moments before she had perished. Still holding onto the younger woman with one hand, Minji unsteadily ruffled through her pockets searching for the precious chain.<br/>
<br/>
“Here,” Minji handed Handong the amethyst-laced necklace, finally finding it in one of her pockets. “Will this do?”</p><p>“I think so,” Handong replied, taking the necklace and wrapping it around her palm several times over.<br/>
<br/>
“What must I do now?” Siyeon questioned.<br/>
<br/>
“Whilst I mutter this spell in ancient Vasileric,” the healer began to explain, “keep slowly feeding Bora the potion. Is everyone ready?”<br/>
Both the knight and the rebellion leader nodded.<br/>
<br/>
With a soft glow of light surrounding her, Handong continued to mutter in ancient Vasileric, a language that Minji thought was long gone.<br/>
<br/>
<em>'Come back to me, Bora. Please.'</em> Her thoughts silently pleaded as she clutched onto the younger woman impossibly tighter. <em>'Gods, please let her come back to me.'</em><br/>
<br/>
Whilst the rebellion leader held onto Bora’s limp frame, the knight she had come to know as Siyeon slowly kept feeding the younger woman the potion.<br/>
<br/>
“Dongie,” Minji cried out, “why isn’t it working?”<br/>
<br/>
The healer stopped her mutterings, eyes fluttering open to look at her at one of her closest childhood friends. “The necklace is giving off a strong aura, but apparently it is not strong enough. The spell wants more.”<br/>
<br/>
“More?” Minji questioned in disbelief. “What more could it want?”<br/>
<br/>
“Blood,” Siyeon deadpanned, brows furrowed. “From what I have read these spells are quite taxing to those who want to perform them.”<br/>
“Siyeon is not wrong,” the healer sighed. “The spell wants our blood.”</p><p>Placing down the brew, Siyeon ran a shaky hand through her blonde locks before unsheathing her trusty dagger.<br/>
<br/>
“I do not want either of you to get hurt, this is why I must do this” the knight placed the blade against the palm of her hand.<br/>
<br/>
“Siyeon what-“ Handong could not get her sentence out before the knight’s fingers curled around the blade and with a quick flick of her wrist, the skin was broken. Siyeon winced, as dark crimson pooled in the palm of her hand.<br/>
<br/>
“Continue to cast the spell,” Siyeon ordered. “Need not worry about me.”<br/>
<br/>
Minji stared down at her previously lacerated hand before glancing up at the knight and healer. “My hand was already lacerated...”<br/>
<br/>
“Idiot,” the knight growled in disdain. “Now you choose to tell me?”<br/>
<br/>
The healer rested her necklace-wrapped hand on top of Bora’s. The prisoner’s blood was still wet on her limp hand, from clutching at her thigh wound minutes before.<br/>
<br/>
“Enough bickering, the more blood the better, ” Handong interjected. “Both of you shut your mouths and clutch at my hand.”<br/>
<br/>
As if on cue, the knight and the rebellion leader placed the bloodied hands atop of Handong’s. The healer began muttering in ancient Vasileric, the soft white glow from earlier returning albeit slightly brighter.<br/>
<br/>
'<em>You must wake up Bora.</em>' Minji used her free hand to caress the nape of the younger woman’s neck. <em>'You must come back to me.'<br/>
</em><br/>
Beads of sweat began to form on Handong’s forehead as her muttering intensified, as did the white glow surrounding all of them. Gulping away the knot in her throat, the healer closed her eyes in silent agony.</p><p>“Careful Dongie...,” Siyeon panted, also feeling the effects of the spell.<br/>
<br/>
Sweat dripped from the healer’s face as she exerted uncanny energy, but she was thankful that Minji and Siyeon were here to lessen the brunt of the spell. The pure white glow intensified along with Handong’s mutterings. They were no longer mutterings, Minji noted. They were gaining in volume, and eventually, the healer was reduced to screaming in ancient Vasileric.<br/>
<br/>
The rebellion leader could feel the course of energy flow through her every pore as Siyeon winced beside her, seemingly hurting from the spell as well.<br/>
<em>'Please, Bora.'</em> Minji gritted her teeth in obvious pain. <em>'Wake up.'</em><br/>
<br/>
And with that final thought, a blinding flash of white light filled the cell sending its occupants flying in all sorts of directions.<br/>
<br/>
With a sickly sounding crunch, Handong hit the nearest wall back-first. Siyeon crashed against the metallic bars of the cell door, knocking the wind from her lungs and sending a newfound agony surging through her midsection. Meanwhile, Minji enveloped Bora in a tight embrace as they both were sent tumbling through the air. The rebellion leader landed underneath Bora with a pained grunt, but it did not matter because the smaller woman was protected from smashing into the stone floor.<br/>
<br/>
After the initial daze, Minji came to her senses and gently placed Bora down. Her chest heaved painfully as she hunched over the smaller woman on all fours. A shaky hand found its way to Bora’s face, tenderly brushing the ebony locks aside.<br/>
<br/>
<em>'Please. Please.'</em> Minji silently pleaded. <em>'Come back to me.'</em><br/>
<br/>
The rebellion leader’s eyes widened as she noticed that Bora’s injuries were disappearing slowly but surely. Her hands fluttered downwards, stopping at the younger woman’s previously wounded thigh. Patting the wound, Minji realised it no longer leaked with blood. In fact, the wound had mostly healed. Maybe, just maybe...through some sort of miracle, the spell would actually work.<br/>
<br/>
Minji observed as the unthinkable occurred. Wounded, mangled flesh reformed right before her eyes.<br/>
<br/>
<em>'Impossible.'</em><br/>
<br/>
There was a soft gasp, and suddenly there was a weak arm winding around her waist. It settled on the small of her back, gripping her shirt tightly.<br/>
<br/>
“Minji,” Bora croaked, tears spilling over.<br/>
<br/>
<em>'Bora...'</em><br/>
<br/>
A sob tore from the rebellion leader’s throat as she scooped a living, breathing Bora into her arms deftly. It was a cry of pure rawness. Minji combed through her tangled ebony locks again, eyes searching her over for any injuries. There were none in sight. Instead, glassy brown orbs glanced up at her wearily.<br/>
<br/>
“Gods, Bora” Minji sobbed, resting their foreheads together completely forgetting that her brow was drenched with sweat courtesy of the revival spell. “I thought I had lost you.”<br/>
<br/>
The tiny hand gripping the back of her shirt clutched harder. Bora’s brow furrowed as she looked down at their intertwined hands. Although stained a dark crimson, Bora could recognise the amethyst necklace that Gahyeon had crafted especially for her at first glance. It had fulfilled its purpose. It had protected her. The mere thought caused a stream of tears to flow from her eyes as she nestled against the nape of Minji’s neck, weeping softly.<br/>
<br/>
Minji wrapped an arm around her waist, rubbing soothing circles up and down Bora’s back in an attempt to comfort the younger woman. The rebellion leader could feel Bora tremble with every exhale of breath. With every gasping cry. The hand still located at the small of her back grasped impossibly tighter.<br/>
<br/>
“Everything’s alright now,” Minji’s soothing voice, uncharacteristically wavered. “You’re okay, Bora.”<br/>
<br/>
The rebellion leader turned to Siyeon and Handong who lay sprawled on the cell floor, still panting and clutching and their own sore limbs, the aftermath of the revival spell still coursing through them.<br/>
<br/>
“Thank you,” Minji wept. “Thank you.”</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
Yoohyeon had continuously begged for assistance. For what exactly? Dami was yet to figure it out. Sleep had finally engulfed the sleep-deprived Queen, her head coming to rest against the knight’s shoulder.<br/>
<br/>
Dami did not mind being used as a pillow but when Yoohyeon’s eyes fluttered open she had not expected to be shoved away so harshly.<br/>
<em>'What in the hell?'</em> The young knight seethed silently.<br/>
<br/>
Yoohyeon towered above her, dark eyes threatening.<br/>
<br/>
“How dare you lay a hand on me whilst I sleep!” The Queen bellowed.<br/>
<br/>
“Yoohyeon, I didn’t-” Dami began to explain, but Her Majesty cut her off immediately.<br/>
<br/>
“Do not ‘Yoohyeon’ me!” Her eyes were ablaze with nothing but simmering fury. “I am the Queen and you shall address me as ‘Your Majesty’ or ‘Your Highness’! Now, where is Lee Siyeon? Is she still helping that filthy peasant?”<br/>
<br/>
“Your Majesty,” Dami said as calmly as possible. “I am not sure where Siyeon went, she charged past me earlier. When you were resting, however, The Crown’s scout delivered some information that perhaps you would like to hear?”<br/>
<br/>
“What is it?” Yoohyeon spat.<br/>
<br/>
“Bora has a sister,” the knight announced. “Her name is Lee Gahyeon.”</p><p>“Lee Gahyeon? The tavern owner?” The Queen squinted in thought. “The daughter of those lowly farmers?”<br/>
<br/>
“Yes, yes,” Dami nodded fervently. “That is correct.”<br/>
<br/>
“Well, well, well,” the Queen sing-songed in cruel amusement, lips curling into a haughty smirk. “Isn’t this a perfect situation, Dami?”<br/>
<br/>
“Your Majesty,” Dami made sure to tread carefully, “what are you planning to do?”<br/>
<br/>
“Take your battalion and bring me the girl,” Yoohyeon demanded. “Let's see how long that pathetic excuse for a rebellion leader can last once she realises I have her precious sister here for, I suppose, 'safekeeping'.”<br/>
<br/>
Dami’s face fell.<br/>
<br/>
<em>'This is not my childhood friend. This is not the real Yoohyeon. I refuse to believe this.'</em><br/>
<br/>
“In fact,” the Queen clasped her hands together gleefully, “burn down the Lee farmstead. I want to see the look on that bitch’s face when I tell her the oh-so-tragic news that her parents accidentally perished in a fire.”<br/>
<br/>
“Yoohyeon...,” Dami muttered, unable to believe the words that left her childhood friend’s mouth. “This is not you.”<br/>
<br/>
<em>'Imposter!'</em> Dami internally screamed. <em>'It cannot be her. It cannot be Yoohyeon.'</em><br/>
<br/>
“Can you not see that this has been a dreadful day? Siyeon has been wounded and now she has left me. Now this peasant, Bora, ruined all of my plans,” The Queen rambled wildly. “Get your arse off the floor, and rally your troops before you put me in an even worse mood.”<br/>
<br/>
<em>'There is an even worse mood?'</em></p><p>“Yes, Your Majesty.” Dami hurriedly brushed herself off, giving the Queen a curt nod before exiting her chambers.<br/>
<br/>
<em>'Where the hell are you Lee Siyeon?'</em> The younger knight pinched the bridge of her nose as she exhaled a shaky breath. <em>'It seems we have a larger problem at hand.'</em></p>
<hr/><p>“Dinner,” Siyeon said, placing the tin tray in front of  Bora. “Unfortunately, it is not much.” <br/>
<br/>
Siyeon was by no means a great cook, but she had prepared <em>something</em> for the prisoner that had captured her heart during the riot-turned battlefield. It was not much, the meal only consisting of bread, cheese, and a home-brewed vegetable soup. The knight figured that Bora should at least eat <em>something</em>, considering the amount of time she had spent locked down in the dingy cell with no food or water.</p><p>Siyeon crouched down before Bora, resting on one knee, her gaze settling on the prisoner. The girl hugged her knees to her chest tightly, struggling to get some much-needed oxygen into her lungs, her breath escaping in short, ragged gasps. </p><p><em>'Where’s Minji?' </em>Bora’s thoughts swirled in a panic. '<em>Where’s Minji? '<br/>
<br/>
</em>It was obvious to Siyeon that Bora was going through some sort of post-traumatic stress. The way she flinched at the knight’s every given movement, the way her eyes flitted around nervously at even the tiniest of noises were tell-tale signs.</p><p>“Bora...,” the knight softly called her name, causing the prisoner to look up at her tentatively. “Please eat.” Siyeon nudged the tin tray closer. </p><p>The prisoner did not even spare a glance at the tray, instead, shaking uncontrollably as she observed the knight in front of her. Being hurt and tortured endlessly terrified her. Not knowing when the seemingly never-ending anguish would finally come to a stop threatened to drive her mad. Perhaps that’s why the leader of the Queen’s Guard was here in her cell. To inflict pain. To inflict torture. To drive her to the point of insanity. The mere thought caused her to shake harder as if she was sick with fever and overcome by rigors. </p><p>“I must apologize.” Siyeon bowed her head meekly, averting her own gaze from the prisoner. “I know you must be terrified, and as leader of the Queen’s Guard, I should have prevented them from beating you like that. If only I had known...” </p><p>Bora caught Siyeon’s lips trembling and realized it was not part of her delirious imagination. The knight’s usually tough, icy exterior fractured temporarily, the tiniest frown appearing on her features. It appeared so briefly that had Bora blinked, she would have missed it. </p><p>Bora watched warily as the knight sighed in frustration, running a hand through her luscious blonde locks. </p><p>“I am sorry Bora. You did not deserve that.”</p><p>An apology was not going to magically fix everything, but when mesmerizing blue eyes tearfully glanced up at her Bora felt a little more at ease. Perhaps the knight was not there to torture her. </p><p>“You must be starving,” Siyeon quickly averted her gaze, swallowing the lump that had formed in the base of her throat. “I know for a fact that no one has fed you in days.” </p><p>Bora opened her trembling lips to say something, but when teary blue eyes glanced up at her again she shut her mouth, retreating further into the corner of the dingy cell. Utter fear overcoming her natural instincts of thirst and hunger. </p><p>At that moment, Siyeon noticed how incredibly chapped the prisoner’s lips were. The knight figured that Bora had been deprived of basic necessities such as water the entire time she was locked down here. </p><p>“If you do not want to eat, could I at least offer you some water?” The knight outstretched her arm that held the large wooden mug containing the thirst-quenching liquid. </p><p>Bora watched her cautiously, eyes anxiously darting between the water she so desperately craved and the knight she barely knew. </p><p>“Take it,” Siyeon gently encouraged. When the prisoner refused to move, a defeated sigh escaped the knight. She placed the mug down by Bora’s feet, and slowly nudged it towards her. Respecting the distance the prisoner wanted between them, Siyeon moved away once she offered the water. She sat, with crossed legs, and waited patiently. </p><p>Almost instantly, instincts took over. Bora scooped the giant mug into her tiny hands, bringing it up to her chapped lips. As she drank to hydrate herself, water spilled from the corner of her mouth, endless rivulets rolling down her neck. Bora glugged onwards drinking every last sip until she had emptied the cup’s contents in mere seconds.</p><p>“More?” Siyeon offered once she saw the disappointed pout on Bora’s face when none of the liquid remained. <br/>
<br/>
A minuscule nod from the prisoner and Siyeon was fumbling for her leathered wineskin. She unscrewed the cork with a pop, before handing the wineskin to Bora. The prisoner took it without hesitation as she could think of nothing other than to quench her parched throat with cool water. She glugged the liquid down so quickly that Siyeon was afraid she may actually choke.<br/>
<br/>
“Easy, easy” the knight soothed.</p><p>When her stomach emitted the loudest growl, Bora’s face turned a deep shade of crimson. The blush reached all the way up to the tips of her ears, and once again she was reduced to hiding her face behind her small hands. With a sad smile, Siyeon nudged the tray even closer, tempting the prisoner to take a bite.<br/>
<br/>
“I am no chef, but I prepared a small meal for you,” the knight felt the need to explain herself. “I figured you would need some nutrients to sustain thyself.” Finally, Bora peaked out from behind her hands, glancing down at the food the knight had carefully prepared for her.“Go on,” Siyeon beckoned for what felt like the millionth time that evening.<br/>
<br/>
"I think I was in Heaven," Bora croaked ever so softly, a faraway stare overtaking her gaze. The knight raised a brow as if to question the prisoner's state of mind. <br/>
<br/>
"Bora...," Siyeon began, "are you alright?"<br/>
<br/>
The prisoner's trance-like stare flickered for a moment, diverting to look at the knight ever so briefly before fixating on the dingy cell wall behind her. "I'm here," Bora rasped out meekly. "I'm good."<br/>
<br/>
The knight extended a shaky hand, causing Bora to bring her knees up towards her chest and cower further into the corner of her cell. Siyeon retracted her hand almost instantly, choosing to instead clasp her hands together as she attempted to work out what was going through the older woman's mind. <br/>
<br/>
"Bora?" The knight tried again. "Are you..." Siyeon trailed off when she realized the prisoner was beginning to get tearful. "Are you in pain?"<br/>
<br/>
The prisoner shook her head frantically. <br/>
<br/>
"If you're in pain...or if you need anything...or if I can do anything for you-"<br/>
<br/>
"You can't," Bora choked out.<br/>
<br/>
Siyeon swallowed roughly, averting her gaze for the moment. "I have never died and been brought back to life," the knight brought her gaze back to look at the petite prisoner, "but I do know what it feels like to endure torment...to suffer in a hell-like dimension. Queen Yoohyeon is not the friendliest of royals."<br/>
<br/>
"I was happy," Bora looked up at the knight to see her reaction. Siyeon sat there cross-legged, listening intently. "Wherever I was...I was happy. Everything was painless and peaceful. I knew that everyone I cared about, Gahyeon, Minji, my parents...They were alright. There was no such thing as time. Just warmth and love. My time here on Earth was finished. Saving Minji, protecting my family, the rebellion living on...I felt as if my duties were complete. I don't understand or believe in dimensions or theology..., but wherever I was, it was Heaven. I think I was in Heaven."<br/>
<br/>
Siyeon was stunned into silence, lips parted in some form of shock. Had they torn Bora out of Heaven only to bring her back to this hellhole? <br/>
<br/>
"You tore me out of there. You and Handong and Minji." The prisoner's lips began to tremble as tears began to flow down her cheeks. "You brought me back to this miserable, violent, hard world. To my own personal hellhole where I am to be punished for treason."<br/>
<br/>
"Bora," Siyeon shifted to engulf her in a warm embrace, "stop-"<br/>
<br/>
" 'Tis why you are here isn't it?" In an emotionally charged flurry, a sob tore from the prisoner's throat, tiny fists smacking into the knight's breastplate.<br/>
<br/>
"No," Siyeon held her tightly, determined not to let her go. "I am not here to punish you."<br/>
<br/>
"The Queen ordered my flogging," Bora cried out as she shook uncontrollably from the utter terror and mere thought of enduring more pain. "You-You," the petite woman blubbered, lips trembling with every exhale. "Y-You...you and Handong and Minji...you selfishly pulled me out of there... you b-brought me back to life...a life full of nothing but pain and torture...I wish that I had stayed dead!"  <br/>
<br/>
"Stop it, do not say such things," Siyeon whispered by her ear, rubbing calming circles on the older woman's back. "I am in charge of the prisoners. Thou shall not be flogged."<br/>
<br/>
"How can you expect me to believe that?" Bora nestled her face into the crook of the knight's shoulder seeking some sort of comfort as more tears escapeded her tired eyes.<br/>
<br/>
The more Siyeon held onto her, the more she could feel the prisoner trembling with every exhale of breath. This Bora girl was beyond terrified. The Queen's Guard had beaten her so harshly and violently that it was clear her psyche had been marred so much so that everyone who wore the signature golden chest plate was immediately seen as an enemy. <br/>
<br/>
<em>'I am not your enemy, Bora.'</em>  Siyeon inwardly sighed. <br/>
<br/>
"You have my word," the knight cradled her like one would a child, "no one shall hurt you for as long as I live."</p>
<hr/><p>"You have to eat something." Siyeon nudged the tray towards the prisoner. There was a short silence where Bora stared at the food the knight had cooked. Perhaps the Queen's Guard leader was trying to poison her.<br/>
<br/>
“I cannot eat cheese. It makes me unwell,” Bora croaked softly. “Thank you though.” </p><p>“Shit!” Siyeon clapped her hand to her mouth all too suddenly. </p><p>The abrupt loudness and cursing caused Bora to flinch, expecting harm to rain down on her from every direction. “I’m-I’m sorry just please do not punish me!” Tiny hands raised to shield her face from an anticipated blow that never came. </p><p>“Punish you?” Siyeon answered, wide-eyed. “For what?”</p><p>“For-for,” the prisoner began to shake uncontrollably, “for rejecting the meal you prepared.” </p><p>“Bora,” Siyeon began gently in an attempt to calm her, “I will not punish you for that. How could I do such a thing?”</p><p>“Do you truly mean that? If you are upset I can just eat the cheese, you know.”</p><p>“Bora, I mean it,” Siyeon called a little more sternly. “I will not force you to eat something that makes you feel unwell.” </p><p>“Thank you,” Bora answered quietly, staring down at her tray of food. "It's not poisoned is it?"</p><p>Siyeon chuckled. "No, silly. It is not poisoned."<br/>
<br/>
"Of course," Bora deadpanned, "that would be giving me the easy way out."<br/>
<br/>
The knight's shy grin faltered. <em>'Does Bora truly think that I am keeping her alive only to be tortured?'  </em>Siyeon shook the negative thoughts away. <br/>
<br/>
“Eat the soup first,” the knight held the bowl up to Bora’s lips, tilting it so that the homebrewed soup touched the chapped skin. “They say that cold soup is no good.”<br/>
<br/>
The prisoner parted her lips, allowing the knight to tilt the bowl further as warm, wholesome soup flowed into her throat. It kept going on like this. Bora sipping at the warm liquid whilst Siyeon assisted her.</p><p>“Minji told me that you were the one who advocated to save me,” Bora gnawed away at the bread whilst she spoke. “Why?” </p><p><em>'When we engaged on the battlefield, my heart fluttered like it never had before. That swordsmanship was…wow…' </em>Siyeon could not help but allow the tiniest smiles to find its way to her bandaged face.<br/>
<br/>
“What?” Bora questioned, brow creasing ever so slightly.</p><p>“Honestly,” Siyeon sighed,  “I could not bear to see you like that. All those gnarly wounds, I wanted them healed. My instincts were telling me to protect you.”</p><p>“Thank you.” </p><p>“You need to stop this, Bora.” </p><p>“Stop what?” </p><p>“Thanking me for every little thing.”</p><p>“But I mean it,” the prisoner countered.</p><p>“And I appreciate it, but please, do not reduce thyself to this. This is not the person that Minji knows and loves.” </p><p>“Minji and I are not together,” Bora snapped defensively, “if that is what you are implying.” </p><p>“Right of course…You only kissed her,” the knight teased. </p><p>“I did what?” </p><p>“You don’t remember?” </p><p>Bora shook her head. “However, I am grateful for the reminder.” </p><p>“I guess you could call me your knight in shining armor then,” Siyeon teased playfully in hopes of alleviating the mood.  </p><p>Bora rolled her eyes at the poor attempt at humor, but she too could not help but allow the tiniest of smiles to creep onto her flawless features.</p><p>“So,” the prisoner averted her gaze, unable to look at those beaming blue eyes any longer. “Does my supposed knight in shining armor have a name?” </p><p>“My name is Siyeon.” <br/>
<br/>
“Well thank you, Siyeon,” the prisoner said sincerely, coupled with a small bow. “I mean it.”<br/>
<br/>
“It is my pleasure, Bora,” the knight said happily. “But I have duly noted that next time cheese will not be on the menu.” |<br/>
<br/>
It bewildered Siyeon when a loud, staccato-like laugh, reverberated off the cell walls. How was someone so small yet so loud?  Bora smacked a tiny hand against the knight’s toned forearm apparently finding her aforementioned comment awfully hilarious. A sheepish grin found its way to Siyeon’s face.<br/>
<br/>
Perhaps this Bora girl had more to offer than just her swordsmanship.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi Act here.</p><p>Here is chapter 5. It's very long, but this is where the drama culminates. </p><p>Trigger warnings are in play for this entire chapter so read at own risk</p><p>-Act</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The rebellion leader wore a morbid expression as the healer continued to wrap the bandage around her fractured ankle.</p><p>“I know that look Minji,” Handong questioned with a raised eyebrow. “What is troubling you?”</p><p>“You would not understand,” the redhead exasperated. “You are a healer. How could you possibly understand the thoughts of a warrior?”</p><p>“I know that you are blaming yourself for what happened to Bora,” Handong stated. “Her torture. Her death. You think ‘tis your fault.”</p><p>“She lied,” Minji choked out, “to protect me. Dongie I have to see her.” The rebellion leader moved to stand but the healer held her in place.</p><p>“Not so fast missy,” Handong teased airily. “My friend, you have a twisted ankle. Possibly fractured. You need to elevate your foot and rest.”</p><p>“But Bora-“</p><p>“But Bora is going through her own ordeal. Dying and coming back to life ‘tis not something you face every day. She is going to need time to recover from the shock of it all.”</p><p>“I did not want her to give her life to protect me. I am perfectly capable of handling this myself.”</p><p>“Is that why you sought her help from the beginning?” Handong raised a brow to question her.</p><p>“I shouldn’t have sought her help,” Minji buried her face in her hands with an audible grumble. “I am the reason why she was essentially beaten to death. I am the reason Vallerius has plunged into war.”</p><p>“Minji,” Handong softly called, “you cannot blame thyself for something the Queen has done. Bora’s suffering, Siyeon’s constant torment, Vallerius racked with war and impoverishment? All of this is Yoohyeon’s doing, not yours.”</p><p>The rebellion leader looked up at her with sad eyes. “What if I told you that Yoohyeon is the way she is because of me?”</p><p>“What on earth are you talking about?”</p><p>“I have loved Yoohyeon for almost a decade,” Minji confessed. “It was my love for her that made her this way. It must have been.”</p><p>“But Bora-“</p><p>“All these years, I have never had the strength nor heart to tell Bora the truth about my relationship with Yoohyeon,” the rebellion leader despaired.</p><p>“Minji,” Handong began firmly. “I do not know how close you and Bora truly are, but I do have a pair of eyes. Anyone can see that Bora is completely smitten for you.”</p><p>“No,” Minji denied, refusing to believe the healer’s words. “She is only a close friend.”</p><p>“That is horseshit, and you know it,” Handong snapped. “Perhaps you are in denial about your own feelings for Bora.”</p><p>“I am not in denial.” Minji was adamant in her statement.</p><p>“I see the way you look at her. I saw the way you held and caressed her, and the sheer relief that flooded your face when she awoke calling your name. You love her too, Minji.”</p><p>“I told you already,” Minji minced out through gritted teeth. “My heart belongs to Yoohyeon.”</p><p>“Bora had accepted her fate because she knew that she had saved you. She was willing to die for you, she did die for you, and now you have the audacity to tell me you are in love with the tyrannical madwoman that is a sorry excuse for a queen?!”</p><p>“Yoohyeon is not a madwoman nor a tyrant!”</p><p>“Minji, she tortures Siyeon on a daily basis purely for her sick entertainment purposes! She is a sadist!”</p><p>“That is not her!” The rebellion leader continued to deny. “I am telling you! The Yoohyeon I know would not do that!”</p><p>“Try telling that to Siyeon who has had her skin marred on numerous occasions by a complete nutjob!”</p><p>“No one was supposed to die! No one was supposed to get hurt!” Minji fired back defensively. “If you would just let me explain, you would understand my perspective!”</p><p>“Enlighten me then,” the healer deadpanned.</p><p>“Yoohyeon and I were together. Two women being in love, it’s forbidden. We...we kept it hidden from everybody even our closest friends because we feared that people would judge us. One evening whilst we were being...uh...intimate, the King, Yoohyeon’s father, caught us.”</p><p>“He used his scepter to beat me, claiming that I was the one who turned his daughter into a ‘woman lover’. When my bones cracked from the ferocity of his strike, Yoohyeon tried to stop his attack.”</p><p>
  <em>The Princess struggled to prevent her father from striking a vulnerable Minji.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Stop, stop!” Yoohyeon wailed, wrapping her arms around the King’s waist in an attempt to pull him away from her lover. “’ Tis not her fault! ‘Tis not her fault!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Disgusting!” Another hard strike with the scepter. “How dare you lie naked with my daughter!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A scream finally tore itself from Minji’s throat as the King struck her midsection with such ferocity she felt her bones fracture.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Minji!” Yoohyeon cried, stepping in between her father and her lover to stop the rampant beatdown. “Minji, are you alright?!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A response did not come. Instead, the redhead clutched at her bare ribcage as she struggled to get some much-needed oxygen into her lungs. Helplessly, the Princess watched as Minji’s chest rose and fell rapidly, the shallow breaths morphing into desperate gasps. It was a tell-tale sign that she was hurt.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>When the Princess heard her lover whimper, a noise she had yet to personally hear herself, she began to tremble with newfound rage.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Why did you hurt her?!” Yoohyeon screamed, across the room at the King, the man she refused to call her father. “Did I not already tell you that this was not her fault?! For crying out loud call for a healer, Gods dammit!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You have the audacity to defend the woman who tried to seduce you! The woman who tried to turn you away from men and ruin our dynasty!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The King jabbed the scepter into his daughter’s chest threateningly, but Yoohyeon refused to move. Instead, she used her height to her advantage standing between the seething King and trembling lover as defiantly as possible.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I was the one who asked her to do this!” Yoohyeon fired back, rising to her full height.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You what?!” The King roared. “How is the family bloodline going to continue if the Princess is with a woman?!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I care about Minji more than our stupid bloodline!” Yoohyeon shouted. “I asked her to be intimate with me because <strong>I love her</strong>!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Fuming, the King swung the scepter at his daughter with no remorse. Yoohyeon had sensed the pre-emptive strike and had thrown her forearm up to protect her face and skull. Her forearm took the brunt of the impact, but still, the scepter managed to clip her eyebrow.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The room blurred into a swirl of color as Yoohyeon collapsed to the floor dazed. Almost instantly, crimson liquid poured from the fresh wound on her brow. Despite the ringing in her ears, she could hear the King screaming obscenities at Minji who could only recoil into herself as more abuse rained down on her from above.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Minji...,” the Princess wept, ignoring the fact that blood was pouring from her split eyebrow and obstructing her vision. The yelps that were escaping her lover were becoming more aggrieved as the King was relentless in his beatdown.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Despite her surroundings transforming into one unintelligible whirl, the Princess excruciatingly dragged herself to her lover.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Before another strike from the scepter could come, Yoohyeon sluggishly clambered on top of Minji, laying over her to protect her from further blows.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yoohyeonie,” Minji could barely gasp in her pain-filled delirium, “your face...”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Get off her, daughter,” the King venomously spat, “or I shall beat this out of the both of you.” Yoohyeon clutched at Minji’s hand tightly as she awaited the blows to rain down from above.</em>
</p><p>"When she realized she could not overpower him, she shielded me from the blows instead. An attempt to save me from further harm. The King was so furious that he proceeded to do the same to Yoohyeon. He hurt his own flesh and blood. Whilst I was lying in a heap dazed with pain, that bastard of a man pummelled Yoohyeon until she was a sobbing mess. Yet still, she refused to place me in harm’s way. She took every hit he gave her in order to protect me. That is the Yoohyeon I know. The one who selflessly throws herself in harm’s way for the people she loves.”</p><p>
  <em>“Yoohyeonnie...,” the redhead gasped shakily.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Another blow from the scepter landed on the small of the Princess’ back but this time no sound came from her. Minji felt her go limp against her own battered frame. Trembling arms wrapped around her lover’s unconscious body in a futile attempt to rouse her. The older woman wept silently, nestling her head into the nape of Yoohyeon’s neck.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Love...,” Minji choked out, “wake up. Please wake up.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Pathetic,” the King spat from above. “The both of you are a disgrace to The Crown.” A pointy boot dug into Minji’s already injured side, she cried out, a fresh bout of tears spilling from her tired eyes.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Please...she’s your daughter!” Minji sobbed between choking gasps. “Send for a healer!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The King snorted as the redhead’s pleads fell on deaf ears. “Guards! Take them both to my personal dungeon. Kim Minji will observe my daughter being disciplined and corrected for her wrongness in preferences.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Members of the King’s Guard marched over and attempted to wrench an unconscious Yoohyeon away from her.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“No...,” Minji pleaded, holding onto the younger woman as tightly as she physically could, refusing to let go. Instead, she received another jarring boot to her rib cage, causing her to scream. Immediately she recoiled into herself.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Clutching at her injured midsection, she helplessly watched as the King’s Guard dragged the love of her life off to the dungeon where she would be tormented until she had ‘learned her lesson'.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“No daughter of mine will ever love a woman.” Minji heard the King snarl from above.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You there,” the King addressed a young knight, “prepare a variety of canes and floggers.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“But sire, surely we can sort this out without resorting to violence,” the young knight argued, her fists clenching and unclenching at the scene that had played out before her.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Lee Siyeon, remember your place,” the King spoke menacingly, his eyes deadly. The Crown owes you nothing. ‘Tis you who owes The Crown.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yes Your Majesty,” Siyeon bowed her head meekly, averting her gaze to hide the anger bubbling beneath the surface.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Now go and help my daughter prepare for her punishment.” The young knight glared across at him. “I have unfinished matters to take care of with Kim Minji.”</em>
</p>
<hr/><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Father, mother, I’m home!” Gahyeon called as she returned home from working at the local tavern.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>‘What in the hell?’</em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her gaze fell to where her parents sat. They were tied together by thick rope in the middle of their small cottage.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Gahyeon! Run!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Before she could process what was going on, strong arms wrapped around her waist. Gahyeon’s eyes widened once she realized that members of the Queen’s Guard had entered her family’s farmstead.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Take your hands off me!” Gahyeon yelled, struggling against the iron grip of one of the male guards.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Calm, calm,” he sneered. “You would not want anything bad to happen to your precious parents, would you now?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Instantly, Gahyeon stopped struggling, choosing to obey their commands for the sake of her parents. Her eyes fell to her mother and father, observing them just in case they were wounded with life-threatening injuries. Thankfully they were not.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“F-Father,” she stuttered, “what’s going on?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I shall tell you what is going on,” another guard interjected. “Your sister angered many people loyal to the Crown. For her insubordination, she was beaten within an inch of her life by the Queen’s Guard.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Swine!” A shrill cry came from her mother. “How dare you! How dare you!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Is this how you treat a young lady?!” Her father bellowed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I am pleased to announce that the Queen has ordered Bora’s flogging,” the same guard chuckled gleefully. “I cannot wait to hear her screams.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Bora,” Gahyeon exhaled shakily, tears flowing endlessly as she sunk to the ground. “No. No.” </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The news of what had become of her sister caused her world to morph into one large blur. The fact that Bora had entered an extremely volatile situation to save Minji from a horrible fate only to then be given harsher punishments instead sliced at her heart like a knife through butter.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><em>‘All of this for an unrequited, forbidden love. What has she ever done to deserve such suffering?’</em> Gahyeon was silent in her anguish.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Mister Lee’s eyes were ablaze with anger as he struggled against his restraints.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Untie me!” He roared. “Untie me this instant, you bastard! You shall pay for laying a hand on my daughter!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“That I cannot do,” the guard said with a shrug. “Unfortunately for the both of you, the Queen wants you dead. Luckily for that little pipsqueak Gahyeon, she is wanted alive.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">At the sound of her name, Gahyeon’s head perked up, momentarily being drawn away from her pain-filled thoughts about what had become of her sister.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Now,” the guard clasped his hands together with a sickly grin, “shall I get the others to set fire to the farmstead?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Wait, wait,” Gahyeon pleaded. “You cannot do this!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“My apologies Mister and Missus Lee, but perhaps you should have taught Bora to be more subservient. Maybe then your lives could have been spared.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No!” Gahyeon screamed out, starting to flail and kick at the two guards. Her strikes landed feebly against their golden armor in a futile attempt to save her parents from suffering a cruel demise.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Little one,” her father soothed as tears prickled at his eyes. “Go with them, find Bora. Be strong like I know you can be.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Father, no!” Gahyeon’s tears were everywhere as men with lit torches marched in, commencing to light the farmstead ablaze.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The fire crackled into existence, small embers beginning to glow and spread incredibly quickly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Stop!” Gahyeon sobbed inconsolably as the smell of burning wood inhabited the air. “Stop!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sweetheart,” her mother said, finally accepting her fate. “We will always love you and Bora, now please go. Save thyself. Save your sister.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The fire crackled loudly as the farmstead began to catch alight in numerous areas. Smoke filled the room as Queen’s Guard members filed out quickly as the fiery blaze began to spit embers in all directions.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Let me go! Let me go!” Gahyeon screamed as one of the guards scooped her up with ease, slinging her over his broad shoulders. She took one final look at her parents, their gazes reassuring her that this was not her fault. Was not Bora’s fault.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Tell Bora we love her.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The fire began to roar, spreading rapidly and Gahyeon’s cries became desperate.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No!” She sobbed. “You cannot leave them in there!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The moment she was unceremoniously dumped on the muddy ground in between smelly, grotty troops, she collapsed on all fours, heaving with sobs.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Mother! Father!” Gahyeon’s scream was shrill.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her chin trembled as if she was a small, abandoned child whilst the fire roared into an uncontrollable inferno, engulfing the entire Lee farmstead in an eerie red glow.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A shriek tore from her throat.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1"><em>“You must tell Bora about your past with the Queen,”</em> Handong had stated. <em>“Thou must not continue to tease her like this unless it is your aim to break her heart.”</em></span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <em>
    <span class="s1">“Of course not! I do not want to hurt her like that.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p2">
  <em>
    <span class="s1">“Then you must tell her, Minji.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p2">
  <em>
    <span class="s1">“But I...”</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p2">
  <em>
    <span class="s1">“If you cannot tell her that, at least figure out your feelings for her!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Her conversation with Handong was running rampant within her mind. Yes, she needed to tell Bora about her past relationship with the then Princess, but every time she opened her mouth to tell the younger woman, something prevented her from doing so.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <em>
    <span class="s1">“I cannot tell her about Yoohyeon, Dongie. Not after she...she...It will break her completely.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">
    <em>“Whatever you decide, just know that Bora deserves to know the truth. <strong>The whole truth.</strong>”</em><br/>
</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“There’s something I need to tell you, Bora.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“I know, Minji,” Bora cast her eyes downwards, gently intertwining their hands together.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The rebellion leader’s jaw dropped, mouth left hanging agape. “You know?” </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“I know that I kissed you.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Bora, that’s not what-“</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Shush” the younger woman interrupted her, “just listen to me, please?”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Alright," Minji sighed, defeated.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“What happened to me was not your fault. I know you blame thyself, but you must cease thinking like this. My own actions led to my demise. To my...uh...”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“It pained me to see you tortured and toyed with because of a lie,” Minji hastily cut her off.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“I only lied to the Queen about being the rebellion leader to save you. To protect you. I did not want you to be beaten like I was,” Bora rattled on ruefully.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Why did you take that arrow for me? Why did you lie to the Queen and allow her to hurt you like that? Why would you go through such punishment for me, Bora? I do not understand.” Minji questioned, afraid of the answer.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“It isn’t obvious? ‘Tis because I love you. The agony, the suffering...I would endure it all again if it meant keeping you safe. Yes, ‘twas painful and terrifying, but I would rather get tortured a thousand times over than watching the woman I love getting punished.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“But you didn’t have to die for me,” Minji cried.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Bora’s brow creased. “Yes, I did. I was already wounded, my fate was sealed.” </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <em>
    <span class="s1">‘My duty was complete. My life here on Earth was finished.’ </span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“I did not know what to do with myself when you perished. I cannot lose you, Bora. Not again.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“I am here now, aren’t I? And trust me... I promise I will not leave you.” </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Too many people leave,” Minji whispered softly. “I do not want you to be one of them.” </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Is that why you allowed me to kiss you? Because you thought I was leaving?” </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Bora,” the older woman trod carefully. “Is everything alright? You seem perturbed.” </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Dying and coming back to life does that to you,” the petite woman deadpanned. </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Perhaps the revival spell has altered your memory,” Minji diverted in hopes that she could get Bora to forget that she was the one who had locked their lips together in her pain-filled, near-death delirium.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“We kissed Minji. Siyeon was the one who informed me. Truthfully, I barely remember anything. I do not remember the feeling of your lips against mine.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Oh...”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“So may I kiss you again, Minji?“ </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Bora...”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Silently Minji thanked the Gods that Bora did not remember everything. Now that the younger woman’s feelings were out in the open, the redhead could not help but cringe at particular memory.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Can you kiss me first?” Bora had whimpered.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Mere inches had separated them, and Minji had completely misread the younger woman’s cues. The way Bora’s uninjured eye flickered between her lips and caring, glossed- over gaze. The way tiny hands gingerly reached up to cup her face. Bora had anticipated a kiss, a proper kiss, yet she had given her a friendly peck on the cheek. A kiss that one would give a sister or close friend.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The worst part was how Bora had reacted. Gasping, more tears escaped as she recoiled. Bora had clutched at her chest almost as if a newfound agony had encompassed her. Had Minji broken her heart when she was already so close to death? Had she just plainly rejected Bora the woman who had given her life to save her?</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1"><em>'Shit...'</em> The redhead silently cursed.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Please, Minji?” Bora’s strained pleads reached her ears. “I want to remember this time.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">How could she refuse after she herself did not properly read the cues Bora had so obviously put out? How could she tell Bora the truth after the younger woman had died for her?</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The redhead did not trust herself to speak, so instead, she nodded sadly, unable to bring herself to reject the younger woman that adored her so much.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Bora moved her head closer to Minji who stilled. A small hand hovered over the wound on her cheekbone that Handong had cleaned and stitched up ever so neatly. The rebellion leader watched curiously as Bora’s brows creased seemingly in a newfound worry. Gently, her thumb caressed the bruised flesh that littered the length of Minji’s jaw.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Does it hurt?” Bora’s expression crumpled into one of pure concern, brows knitting into a tighter frown.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“A little,” Minji tearfully admitted. She sat frozen from guilt and remorse as Bora cupped her face, leaned in closer, and kissed the stitched up wound with utter care before peppering the bruised flesh with slow, soft pecks in hopes of expelling any discomfort. The last kiss lingered for a moment before her eyes fluttered shut, forehead resting against Minji’s.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Better?” Bora’s voice was barely a whisper.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The rebellion leader closed her eyes, sighing inwardly.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Better,” Minji breathed shakily. “Thank you, Bora.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“What for?”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“For protecting me, for caring,” Minji’s voice uncharacteristically wavered. “For being you.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Without another moment to spare, Bora leaned in and gently kissed her tender lips. Silent tears streamed down Minji’s face dripping from her chin and onto the dusty floor below. The kiss was slow and soft, comforting in ways that words would never be.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1"><em>'How was I so oblivious? How did I not see how much she loved me after all these years? Do I even deserve her now? I am just a horrible person.'</em> The rebellion leader inwardly chastised and berated herself.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“I’m sorry,” Minji cried, “I am so sorry.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“I love you,” Bora choked out, holding back her own tears. “Please do not cry.” </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Well isn’t that sweet,” an all too familiar voice chimed from the outside of the cell.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1"><em>'Yoohyeon...'</em> Minji‘s eyes snapped open only to find that the Queen was scowling. Bora’s eyes opened too, brow knitting together tightly as she followed the older woman’s panicked gaze to where guards were placing down a makeshift throne for Yoohyeon to sit upon.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The Queen was far from amused. Her eyes darkened at the mere fact that Kim Minji, the woman she once loved, was in someone else’s embrace. Jaw tensing, she slowly took a seat on her makeshift throne, narrowed gaze refusing to avert from the scene in front of her.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Yoohyeon I-“</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Save your breath, Minji,” the Queen rudely interrupted with the wave of her hand. </span>
  <span class="s1">“Whatever horseshit it is that you are about to spew, I quite frankly do not want to hear a word of it.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Why don’t you shut your mouth,” Bora piped up.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Feisty,” Yoohyeon said with a quick sip of her freshly brewed tea. “I like it.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Do not speak to her like that.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The Queen arched a brow. “Whimpering dog, how are you even standing right now after what I did to you? Shouldn’t you be dead or close to it?”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“You wish,” Bora fired back. “You cannot get rid of me that easily, dim-wit.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“That is a lot of bravado for someone so small. Is that what Minji is oh-so-attracted to these days?”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Well, she is certainly not going to be attracted to an insane, dense, tree such as thyself.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Minji could not take the name-calling between her former lover Yoohyeon, and whatever Bora now was to her. She pulled the younger woman back, preventing her from lunging at the Queen.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Bora, please,” the rebellion leader murmured softly by her ear. “She’s not worth it.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Sending one last deadly glare at the Queen, Bora turned around in the redhead’s embrace deciding to focus her attention on the woman she loved instead. Tiny hands fluttered up to Minji’s wounded face. She had not appreciated the way the Queen had name-called Minji. In fact, it enraged her. How could she denigrate Minji in such a way? How could the Queen order her beating...her torture? The mere sight of the stitches on Minji’s cheekbone sent an angry inferno swirling through her mind, so much so, that she began to tremble newfound in a fury. Bora wanted nothing more than to make the Queen feel just an ounce of pain that they both had felt.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Bora shook her rage-filled thoughts away. A small hand combed through crimson locks, the other cupped her chin tenderly. “Darling, I am sorry.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The Queen audibly scoffed at the interaction. “Your feelings are so obvious, Bora. Perhaps you should question Minji on where her heart and body lie? I hear she’s quite a whore in the bedroom.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The angry inferno inside her raged.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Who are you calling a whore?” Teeth bared, Bora stormed forward. Oh, how she wanted to get her hands on the Queen and release all her pent-up frustration. “Do you ever shut your mouth? Or do you need me to shut it for you?” The prisoner continued to seethe as two guards blocked her path.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Bora, don’t!” Minji pleaded with her.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“This madwoman cannot speak such vile words about you!” Bora screamed, trying to push past the guards and finally get her hands on the sadistic tyrant of a Queen.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Just because your oh-so-precious Minji is a whore does not mean you have the right to speak to me in such a manner,” Yoohyeon spat venomously. “In fact, I should punish you for such an act.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Immediately, Bora froze. Her bravado shattering like thin ice. The mere thought of more pain and torture caused her breath to hitch, her body to tremble. She could not go through something like this, not again.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“What’s the matter, Bora? Cat’s got your tongue?” Yoohyeon sing-songed. “All that confidence earlier and now I hear nothing but silence.“</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Are you threatening me?” Bora breathed out shakily. “You do not scare me, despite your t-torture methods.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Is that why you stutter and tremble?” The Queen’s lips tugged into that signature haughty smirk that the prisoner had grown to despise.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“N-No, that’s not-“</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Listen,” Yoohyeon cut her off with a wave of her hand, “I have something to give you.” The Queen took one last sip of her tea before placing the mug down on the stool beside her. From beneath her red cape, she pulled out a scroll marked with The Crown’s seal. “This is for you.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The prisoner eyed her warily, heartbeat pounding loudly in her ears. Anyone who lived in Vallerius could recognize The Crown’s seal, meaning whatever the scroll contained was meant for the Queen’s eyes only. How could something of royal importance be for her? A measly peasant? A prisoner? A knot formed in the base of her throat as she tentatively took a step forwards. Before Bora could take another pace, an arm wrapped around her waist.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Don’t,” Minji clutched at her desperately. “You cannot trust her, Bora. What if she hurts you again?”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Is the lovey-dovey talk over? The sweetness between both of you is utterly sickening.” Yoohyeon rolled her eyes in plain annoyance. “Bora, come here.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“No, don’t,” Minji held the smaller woman in place, preventing her from doing the Queen’s bidding. “I cannot lose you again.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Trust me,” Bora said with as much courage as she could muster. “I will never leave your side, Minji. That I can promise you.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“I do not like to be kept waiting,” The Queen spoke nastily. “Guards, bring her to me!”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Two guards seized the small woman, wrenching her away from Minji’s grasp. The small woman did not dare struggle. The fear of being beaten within an inch of her life coupled with the never-ending pain that could drive her to the point of insanity terrified her.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“No! Don’t hurt her!”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Hearing Minji’s desperate pleads ringing in her ears as she got dragged towards the Queen only quickened her heart rate. Her eyes flitted around nervously in an attempt to survey the surroundings for any weaponry. There was none. Yet that fact was of no comfort to Bora. They did not need weapons to inflict pain.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Kneel,” The Queen’s cold voice echoed throughout the cell.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“N-No.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Yoohyeon laughed. It was a bitter, vicious chuckle. “I am your Queen, and you shall treat me as such. Kneel, peasant.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Before Bora could retort, Yoohyeon signaled for the guards to force the prisoner onto her knees harshly. They held her there firmly, and she hissed lowly due to her kneecaps scrapping against the worn-out cobblestone. </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">There was no chance for a reprieve, as instantly, the Queen’s hand grabbed a fistful of her ebony locks. A pained gasp escaped her, brows knitting together tightly in obvious distress.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Filthy peasant, look at you. One measly threat and you are a stuttering, subservient bitch,” Yoohyeon mocked her.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Tears prickled at Bora’s eyes from the combination of both the Queen’s relentless hold on her hair and the hurtful words being flung at her for seemingly no reason. What had she done to deserve such treatment?</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Read this,” Yoohyeon tutted before throwing the royal parchment at the prisoner’s feet.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">A relieved sigh passed through Bora’s lips as the Queen released her grip on the prisoner’s hair. With shaking hands, she did as she was told. All whilst Yoohyeon observed her like a hawk. Ripping off the royal seal, and unrolling the paper, Bora began to hastily scan the parchment.<br/>
<br/>
</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <em>
    <span class="s1">‘To Her Majesty, the Queen,</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p2">
  <em>
    <span class="s1">As per your request, the Lee farmstead has been burnt. There were no survivors.</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p2">
  <em>
    <span class="s1">About the girl, do not worry.</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p2">
  <em>
    <span class="s1">Gahyeon lives and we shall bring her back to you.</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p2">
  <em>
    <span class="s1">Do not do anything foolish whilst I am gone.</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p2">
  <em>
    <span class="s1">From Your Knight,</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p2">
  <em>
    <span class="s1">Lee Yubin’</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The Queens's lips tugged into a sickening grin as she watched the prisoner’s eyes dart back and forth, seemingly trying to process the news.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1"><em>‘No.’</em> Her heart stopped. <em>‘No, it can’t be.’</em></span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Again, with trembling hands, she read the letter. Over and over again she read it, and yet the result did not change.<br/>
<br/>
</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Her parents were dead.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Immediately, she scrunched up the parchment into a ball, chucking it straight into Yoohyeon’s features. The bold action wiped the arrogant smirk that Bora had grown to despise straight off the Queen’s face.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Is this your idea of a sick joke?”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“I do not joke,” Yoohyeon deadpanned, clearly not amused by the prisoner’s behavior. “The information I have given you is nothing but the truth.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“You’re lying,” Bora cried out, blinking away the inevitable tears. “You...you have to be!”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“I do not lie, peasant. I’d offer you my condolences but frankly, I do not care that your parents perished oh-so-tragically because they deserved it.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The comment alone was enough to send Bora into a blinding, heart-wrenching rage. She flailed and struggled, wanting to get her hands on the sadistic Queen. The guards that held her in place attempted to keep her restrained but their attempts were futile. </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Swinging her sharp elbows, the prisoner managed to strike one of the guards in the groin. Instantly, he fell to the ground, moaning and groaning.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">In one swift movement, Bora took the opportunity to steal his blade. The other guard leaped into action, tackling the prisoner to the floor and effectively pinning her there. All hope seemed to be lost, the grotty guard above her had trapped her beneath his foul body, but suddenly there was a flash of fiery red hair. The red hair that Bora would recognize anywhere.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Take your filthy hands off her!” Minji shrieked like a person possessed, fists flying into the back of his head numerous times.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The rebellion leader had given her an unexpected opening. Bora brought the hilt of the weapon crashing against the guard’s face, busting him open in a stunning display of crimson and knocking him unconscious.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The Queen had entered the scuffle, sword twirling by her side. The point of her boot dug into Minji’s midsection. A pained yelp escaped through the redhead’s lips. As Bora moved the unconscious man from above her, she heard a sickening crunch and Minji’s unadulterated scream of agony.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Does it hurt, <em>whore</em>?!” Yoohyeon bellowed down at her. </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1"><em>‘Do you think you can replace me with <strong>her</strong>?’</em> That was what the Queen really meant.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Yoohyeon, please ” Minji sobbed, clutching at her fractured ankle. The Queen had kicked her and proceeded to stomp down with immense force on the plaster that Handong had administered.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Minji...,” Bora murmured, finally shoving the unconscious guard to the side. She picked up the sword, knuckles turning a ghostly white from the sheer tightness of her grip.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Another stomp to Minji’s plastered foot and anger tore at Bora’s soul, engulfing her entire being. All the pain and torture she endured at the hands of this sadistic Queen. The fact that Minji, the kindest person she had ever met, was being punished for treason right before her eyes, and now, here was the Queen telling her that her parents had perished?</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Stop hurting her, you swine!” Trembling with newfound rage, she swung the blade at the Queen. Yoohyeon raised her sword at the last second as metal found metal. The clang resonated throughout the cell. Bora’s gaze held nothing but fury as she shoved the Queen, sending her toppling to the ground.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Minji, Minji,” Bora was by her side in an instant. The rebellion leader was sobbing inconsolably, hands balled into fists that shook uncontrollably against the cobblestone.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Bora...,” the rebellion leader gasped out her name in a sob. </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The way Minji’s leg tensed and quivered with every exhale of breath was a telltale sign that something was wrong. Bora’s eyes trailed down the older woman’s leg and saw that Yoohyeon had stomped so hard on the limb that the plaster itself had split down the side.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Breathe darling,” Bora soothed, one hand combing through fiery red locks. “Breathe.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">From her place on the floor, the Queen watched the intimate interaction between the two women. Jaw tensed, teeth gritted, Yoohyeon picked herself up. Having seen enough, she lunged forward sword at the ready.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Sensing an attack from behind, Bora raised her blade to block the hard blow with a clang. The Queen wore a devastated expression on her face but that was nothing compared to the inner rage that the prisoner felt.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Both Bora and Yoohyeon were on their feet now, sweat dripping from their faces. The Queen could only stare at the petite woman with absolute loathing.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“I despise you,” the Queen growled lowly. Their blades bound together again, both women standing their ground, neither of them relenting in their onslaught.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Did you kill them?” Bora choked out, voice laced with thick, raw emotion. Her arms were quivering from the sheer strength pressed against her blade. From the anger. From the inevitable heartbreak.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Can you not read?” Yoohyeon cruelly jabbed, her arms also shaking from the contest. </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“D-Did you kill my parents?” Bora cried out, her wrath had far from smoldered. </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“And so what if I did?”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Bora cut at the Queen, only to be blocked. But again, Bora lunged forward, swinging and thrusting her blade relentlessly, driving Yoohyeon back. The Queen’s footwork became sloppy, most likely from exhaustion. Whatever the case, Bora refused to let her regain her balance.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Yoohyeon desperately tried to fend off Bora’s attacks, attempting to counter, but the prisoner refused to back down. Refused to lose. After everything this tyrant had put her through, she was not going to submit. Not now, not ever.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Finally, Bora’s sword slipped past the Queen’s defenses, the tip of the blade finally finding flesh. With a yelp, Yoohyeon stumbled, sword clattering to the ground as she collapsed back onto her makeshift throne, dazed.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“You little bitch!” Yoohyeon clutched at her arm, crimson leaking past her fingers and staining the white sleeves of her blouse. “How dare you?”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Bora breathed heavily, perspiration slicking her brow as she jabbed the point of the sword into Yoohyeon’s chest. It was not enough to harm her but it meant her movement was restricted.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Tell me the truth,” Bora panted. “Tell me the fucking truth or I shall run this blade straight through you.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“If you kill me, you won’t make it out of the palace grounds alive,” Yoohyeon said with a cocky smirk.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“After everything you have done, after everything...,” Bora’s unshed tears caused her eyes to glisten. “Why shouldn’t I kill you where you sit?</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“It’s simple really. Your precious Minji cannot walk. You would not be able to escape with her even if you tried. On the other hand, you’re so smitten thou cannot bear the thought of leaving her alone. You would not like her to be tortured because of your disobedience, would you now?”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The Queen was right, but Bora was too stubborn to admit it. To prideful to give into a tyrannical sadist.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“I’ll...,” the prisoner’s lower lip trembled. “I’ll carry her out of here if I must.” Yoohyeon threw her head back and guffawed at the comment.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“You did not have to hurt her,” Bora spoke quietly, sword lowered as the Queen crossed her legs, picked up her mug from the nearby stool, and took another sip of her hot tea. “It is me you want. Remember?”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“What are you? A masochist? Why would you willingly offer thyself for punishment?”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“I love her," Bora fired back, "but that is something you cannot comprehend. You’re a murderer, a madwoman. Someone who takes pleasure in inflicting nothing but pain. What would you know about love?”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The Queen threw scalding tea into Bora’s face. The prisoner yelped as it seared at her skin. Stung at her eyes. Her sword dropped with a clatter, hands immediately flying to her face in order to remove the burning liquid. Bora did not anticipate the blow that came to the head with the ceramic mug.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Is this who you have fallen for, Minji? A disobedient dwarf?” The Queen bellowed as Bora stirred groggily on the cell floor. “And you, peasant, are you that stupid? Can you not read? Uneducated swine.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Yoohyeon grabbed the dazed prisoner and launched her like a rag doll into the cell door. The impact was brutal; the ageing iron became mangled beneath Bora’s petite frame. The wind was knocked from her lungs, body crumpling into an aching heap. She slid down onto her knees and stared up at the Queen weakly.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Liar...,” the prisoner hissed through gritted teeth, ”tell me the truth.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“The truth?” Yoohyeon chuckled bitterly. “You cannot handle the truth, whimpering dog.” </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Tell me,” Bora choked out.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“If you insist,” the Queen’s lips tugged into a smirk before she too crouched down before Bora. Lanky hands, combed through the prisoner’s ebony locks before they yanked roughly, forcing the smaller woman to look nowhere else but up at the Queen. “I sent my troops to burn down your farmstead. Maybe if you had not committed treason, and instead acted like a subservient bitch, your parents would still be alive,” Yoohyeon mocked cruelly.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">An unadulterated scream of anguish tore from Bora as she launched herself at the Queen, sending them both to the floor in a heap. </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Tiny hands gripped Yoohyeon’s throat. “My parents were innocent!” Bora’s screams were shrill. “They were innocent!” </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Yoohyeon only chuckled from below her. “But you committed treason so what better way to remind you of your place than killing the people you love most? And Gahyeon-“ </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Teeth bared, Bora slapped the side of her face, blinded by rage. “Shut up! Don’t you dare mention my sister! You orphaned her! You orphaned us!” </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <em>
    <span class="s1">‘You orphaned me, again.’ </span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Embers still burnt lowly in the nearby fire pit, courtesy of the revival spell. The Queen was not sure why the fire pit was active, but she did see it as a means to an end. Bora’s end. </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Why can’t you just learn your place?” The Queen minced out through gritted teeth. Scooping up the ash and embers with a hiss of pain, Yoohyeon flung the coals into the prisoner’s face and flipped her onto her back. </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">A groan left Bora’s lips as the Queen pinned her to the harsh cobblestone with her hips. “Where oh where have I seen this view before...” Yoohyeon sing-songed by the prisoner’s earlobe. </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Get off me! Get off me!” Bora protested to no avail. </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Oh I know,” a sickening grin found its way to the Queen’s face. “Minji was beneath me like this when we decided to fuck. Little bitch, you will never be a better lover than me.” </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The prisoner barely had time to process the hurtful remarks. The Queen brought her to her feet and launched her ribcage first into the iron bars of the cell door a second time for good measure. This time, the rusty hinges buckled from the brutal impact, sending it crashing into the corridor along with Bora.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">A strangled cry escaped the prisoner’s lips, as she groaned from the unpleasant landing. She was dazed, laying sprawled out in the corridor, midsection, and limbs aching.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Bora!” Minji sobbed somewhere far in the distance latching onto the Queen’s ankle and refusing to let go. “Stop this Yoohyeon,” she begged. “Please. Stop this.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Stay out of this,” Yoohyeon growled in response.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Within seconds, members of the Queen’s Guard charged in from all directions. Rough hands seized the prisoner from her spot on the floor. They lifted Bora up, forcing her to her feet. Despite the fact that her vision had morphed into somewhat of a blur, she still had fight left in her. A guard charged forwards, but Bora jumped and used her strong legs to kick him square in the jaw. He fell limp, unconscious.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Bora ducked, anticipating another hit from the guard that was firmly grabbing onto her. The prisoner managed to slip out from the grasp just in the nick of time, dodging the attack. Friendly fire. By accident, he clocked his fellow Queen’s Guard member in the face. Suddenly, she found herself free, without restraint.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Catching her breath, Bora stumbled and realized there was a clear path to Yoohyeon. </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">She lunged with a guttural grunt, eyes narrowing in pure loathing. </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The prisoner tackled the Queen, sending them both to the stone floor. Regaining a modified fighting stance, Bora drew her fist back delivering a sharp blow to Yoohyeon’s jaw.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Resorting to cheap shots and calling for backup? You fight with no honor!” Bora seethed, landing another flurry of quick punches not giving a damn where they landed. “Why did you have your guards beat and torture me?!”Another hard punch to the side of the Queen’s face. “Why do you care if I am Minji’s lover?! And another punch. “Why did you kill my parents?! Answer me!”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Because you committed treason!” The Queen frothed, throwing a punch of her own, clipping the underside of Bora’s chin. With a sharp yelp, the prisoner was momentarily stunned. This gave the Queen an opportunity to gain the upper hand as she flipped the small woman onto her back. “I asked for your subservience but you disobeyed me, began a war against me!”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">A smack stung at her face, leaving a red welt behind. She winced. Upon her cheekbone was a fresh cut from where Yoohyeon’s ring had nicked skin. It was a lie. Bora had not started a war. It was all a lie to protect Minji, however, the ploy still remained true for the Queen.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Bora jutted her fist out, hitting the Queen in the chest weakly. It was a futile attempt to hurl her off. It only led to more punishment. </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">A cry escaped her lips as Yoohyeon’s palm clapped across her face for a second time. Tears stung at her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. The sadistic Queen would not be entertained by seeing her scream and cry. Instead, arms shot up behind Yoohyeon’s head, tiny hands grabbing fistfuls of silver hair. </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">It was the Queen’s turn to yelp as Bora yanked aggressively, dragging the younger woman’s head downwards towards her own chest. Their faces were mere inches apart, eyes holding nothing but disdain for one another.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Why did you do it?” Bora’s voice became raw with emotion. “Why did you kill my parents?”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Yoohyeon winced, a grimace-like grin appearing on her features. “Whimpering dog, I did it because I wanted to see the devastated look on your pitiful face.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">One of the Queen’s lanky hands shot straight to Bora’s neck, significantly incapacitating her ability to breathe. Her midsection was already ablaze in a fiery agony from the shots she had taken earlier. Every breath was a struggle yet every labored breath was currently saving her life. She tightened her grasp on Yoohyeon’s hair in hopes of alleviating some of the pressure on her windpipe.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“L-Let go,” the prisoner rasped.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Suddenly, some much-needed oxygen flowed into her lungs. The relief was short-lived as the Queen grasped at her jaw roughly, eliciting a pained gasp from the smaller woman. “You will learn to obey me, to serve me. You will become my subservient bitch, even if I have to beat this defiant streak out of you.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Judging by the way the prisoner’s eyes narrowed in pure loathing, the combination of hurtful words and physical assault only seemed to anger her further. Maneuvering her chin away from the Queen’s hold, Bora chomped down firmly, teeth sinking into soft flesh.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“She bit me!” Yoohyeon howled, clutching her hand to her chest. “Gods dammit she bit me!”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">With a scream of determination, the prisoner flipped them both over. It was the opportunity she so desperately needed to gain the upper hand. Entangled, they clawed, tugged, and punched at one another, each of them fighting for the more dominant position. It was Bora who emerged victorious, exiting the scrappy mess and clambering on top of the Queen.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Blow after blow. </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Strike after strike.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The prisoner proceeded to unleash her fury on the woman that had murdered her family until her knuckles were bruised and battered.</span>
</p><p class="p2"><span class="s1">“Am I subservient enough for you now, </span> <em><span class="s2">bitch</span> </em><span class="s1"> ?!”</span></p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The Queen could only shield her face from the blows.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Bora, Bora! Stop!” Minji’s steady arms were suddenly around her waist, attempting to rip her away from Yoohyeon.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“She killed my parents!” Bora shrieked, flailing limbs still slamming against the Queen. “Gods be damned if I let her get away with this!”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“But this is not you, Bora!”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Inadvertently, the rebellion leader had given Yoohyeon a chance to deliver another open-hand strike to Bora’s face, the prisoner’s vision swirling into an incomprehensible mess. Minji hauled a dazed Bora away from the Queen, practically dumping her harshly on the cobbled floor.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">It was as if time had slowed. The rebellion leader was on the floor before her, brow creased in sorrow and guilt, ankle throbbing anew. Bora’s eyes grew wide, a pang struck at her chest as her face fell.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <em>
    <span class="s1">‘Minji what-‘</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The smaller woman barely had time to process the betrayal in its entirety before members of the Queen’s guard pounced upon her, taking the chance to pin the defiant prisoner to the stone floor.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Shackle her. Quickly!”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Get off!” Bora screamed, struggling against their grasp to no avail. “Get off!”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The guards pushed Bora flat onto her stomach and amateurishly wrenched her arms behind her back, hard. A foreign coolness encased her wrists, followed by the sound of a faint ‘<em>click</em>’. </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Within a number of seconds, the prisoner found herself trapped between the stone floor and the sweaty members of the Queen’s Guard. They had climbed on top of her, making sure to restrict her movement and prevent her from escaping. Or worse... attacking the Queen once more.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Yoohyeon was standing over her with a sickly grin, welts, and bruises beginning to form on her usual perfectly sculptured face.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“I am going to kill you!” Bora screeched as the Queen’s Guard members struggled to keep her still. “I am going to fucking kill you!”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Kill me? No,” Yoohyeon tugged roughly on her hair, stilling the smaller woman momentarily, “you are going to behave thyself and take everything I give you or else your precious little sister Gahyeon will be my next target.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“No, no,” Bora panted painfully. “Don’t. Don’t hurt her.” </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Without warning, a burst of pain shot through her abdomen, and she was arching her back, coughing and spluttering violently. The Queen had struck her yet again, and now the incessant yet recurring throbbing spread throughout the entirety of her midsection.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Then behave, <em>bitch</em>,” Yoohyeon spat wickedly.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>Siyeon sculled the remaining contents of her wineskin.<br/>
<br/>
“Singnie,” Handong spoke softly, “you must ease up on the drinking.”<br/>
<br/>
“When you live a life like I have Dongie, alcohol becomes a necessity,” the knight said bitterly.<br/>
<br/>
The healer smiled at her sadly. “Has the Queen been harsher on you these days?”<br/>
<br/>
Her jaw tensed. “Depends.”<br/>
<br/>
“On what?”<br/>
<br/>
“Our definitions of ‘harsh’. Something that is harsh in your eyes may just be another day for me.”<br/>
<br/>
“Siyeon,” Handong said seriously. “I am only asking because I am worried that you may be hurt.”<br/>
<br/>
“I’m fine,” the knight grumbled. “I am used to being the Queen’s plaything, a toy that she can do whatever she wants with.”<br/>
<br/>
Before the healer could respond a loud bang resonated throughout the palace dungeons.<br/>
<br/>
“What in the world was that?” Handong jumped from sudden loudness.<br/>
<br/>
“I cannot be sure,” Siyeon hummed. Although now that she thought about it, the Queen had mentioned visiting the new prisoners. That meant...her eyes grew wide...<br/>
<br/>
<em>'Bora'</em>.<br/>
<br/>
 The knight stood up a little too quickly, dizziness suddenly rushing to her head. Siyeon swayed but Handong was there to steady her. “Easy there, why the sudden hurry?”<br/>
<br/>
“Bora.”<br/>
<br/>
Siyeon took off groggily, intoxication settling in deep now. The poor girl had just died and come back to life. The trauma alone from such an incident would be enough to deal with for a lifetime. The last thing poor Bora needed was a visit from the sadistic Queen.<br/>
<br/>
“Siyeon, where are we going?” The healer called after her. “You’re in no state to go anywhere.”<br/>
<br/>
“But,” the knight’s lower lip trembled uncharacteristically, “Bora.”<br/>
<br/>
“Yes, the rebellion leader. What about her?”<br/>
<br/>
“We can’t just leave her alone with the Queen.”<br/>
<br/>
“Have you grown to like her?” Handong asked directly, as a blush crept onto the knight’s face.<br/>
<br/>
“She is beautiful,” Siyeon admitted. “But that is not why we must hurry. If Yoohyeon notices that Bora has been healed, she will be suspicious of us.”<br/>
<br/>
As Handong hastily walked and Siyeon stumbled a few steps behind her through the dimly lit corridor, desperate shrieks, inane bellowing, and pained yelps bounced off the stone walls. The pair quickened their pace, only to come across a poignant scene.<br/>
<br/>
The Queen held a terrifying flogger, dark and menacing. One the knight knew too well. She towered above a quivering Bora as guards restrained Minji from interfering. “You dare strike me!” Yoohyeon screamed, bringing the whip down across the back of the prisoner’s thighs.<br/>
<br/>
The sickening crack of leather meeting flesh caused Siyeon to jump at the sound, insides turning to jelly. Judging by the shriek of agony passed through Bora’s lips, this was not the first lashing she had received.<br/>
<br/>
“Minji, please...,” her tears were everywhere as her sobs escaped in ragged gasps, “help me.”<br/>
<br/>
“Stop it! She didn't mean it!” Minji desperately cried. She was locked within the guards’ embrace for certain. “Yoohyeon! She is overcome by grief! Stop!”</p><p>The scenario was all too familiar for Siyeon. She knew the more one begged, the angrier the Queen would get. It was better to shut up and endure the punishment or else it would get worse. But Bora did not know the inner workings of Yoohyeon’s mind. She was only an innocent victim caught up in this entire mess. How was she supposed to know how this madwoman worked?<br/>
<br/>
Another crack and sob-like scream thwarted Siyeon’s thoughts.<br/>
<br/>
Due to her uncontrollable temper, the Queen continued lashing the prisoner, in between her shoulder blades, across her buttocks and calves, upon the small of her back. Bora shook and recoiled from the lashings unable to even raise her shackled hands to protect herself. Beads of blood, sweat, and tears collected on her brow as Yoohyeon was relentless in her attack, refusing to give the poor girl any reprieve.<br/>
<br/>
“Please! " A scream finally ripped itself from Bora’s throat, her heart pounding against her injured ribcage as she begged for the torture to end. For someone to save her.<br/>
<br/>
“Begging already? Pathetic,” Yoohyeon spat. “That’s only thirty, you have another twenty awaiting you Bora.”<br/>
<br/>
The knight had seen enough, her sense of injustice rising to a pinnacle. Before the prisoner could be harmed any further, Siyeon stormed over, albeit slightly wobbly, and wrenched the flogger from Yoohyeon’s grasp. She sent it flying down the corridor without a hint of remorse.<br/>
<br/>
“Your Majesty, what in the hell is going on here?” The knight growled lowly, tired gaze fixating on the fuming Queen.<br/>
<br/>
“Si-Siyeon?” Bora whimpered.<br/>
<br/>
Oh, how the knight wished she could go and bundle up the smaller woman into her arms and tell that it was over. But first, she needed to calm down the Queen. Then she would tend to her new acquaintance for as long as she had to.<br/>
<br/>
A boot dug into Bora’s side, sending her into a whole new world of agony. Fresh tears fell. Ripples of pain racked her body. Tiny black spots began to litter her vision. The sting from the shackles was digging into her skin, almost rubbing her wrists raw.<br/>
<br/>
“Did I say you could speak, peasant?”<br/>
<br/>
“I’m sorry,” Bora sobbed, and the knight felt her heart shatter. “I’m sorry.”<br/>
<br/>
Siyeon spun Yoohyeon around, trembling hands knotting into her blouse before she intertwined their lips together. It was the only thing she could think of during that instant to tear the Queen away from brutalizing Bora further. The knight pecked at Yoohyeon’s lips, her on-the-spot plan working seamlessly.</p><p>“My dear,” the Queen was taken aback by the sudden kiss. “Well...that was an unexpected surprise.”<br/>
<br/>
“I am always full of surprises,” Siyeon pretended to flirt, even giving Yoohyeon a wink for good measure.<br/>
<br/>
“Uh,” the Queen pulled away, uncomfortable with the sudden proximity.<br/>
<br/>
“Why are you flogging Bora? What did she do this time?”<br/>
<br/>
“The prisoner got a little frisky once I told her that I killed her parents.”<br/>
<br/>
“Rightfully so. You just dropped some incredibly harrowing news on her. Of course, she’s going to be understandably upset, Your Majesty.”<br/>
<br/>
Siyeon could only imagine how many times her skin had been broken by the whip. She shuddered at the thought. At the wounds, she would have to tend to once she removed Bora’s clothes. The knight wanted to burst into tears knowing that the prisoner’s parents had been unceremoniously murdered but she held her stern facade for Bora’s sake. She had to try and completely diffuse the situation.<br/>
<br/>
“Need I remind you of your mental state after your parents died, Yoohyeon?” The knight reiterated gently. “No one beat you or flogged you. Gods, show some empathy for once in your life.”<br/>
<br/>
Yoohyeon’s face fell. It seems like her words had some sort of effect on the Queen. “Take her to my chambers Siyeon,” the Queen’s tone softened. "Tend to her."<br/>
<br/>
Her eyes darted over to Minji who was distraught over Bora's condition.<br/>
<br/>
"What the hell did you do, Yoohyeon?" the rebellion leader screamed at her in despair. "What the hell did you do?"<br/>
<br/>
Siyeon released a breath, she had not realized she was holding.<br/>
<br/>
<em>'Bora...'<br/>
<br/>
</em>She rushed to the petite woman's side, gathering her up in her arms immediately.<br/>
<br/>
<em>'Oh, Gods Bora...'</em></p><p>The knight fell to her knees and quietly wept.</p>
<hr/><p>Siyeon hauled the prisoner’s deadweight up the spiraled staircase with great difficulty. The cries of pain that had previously filled her ears were unlike anything she had heard before.</p><p>Usually, the prisoners would cuss and curse at her, name-call her everything under the sun, but this Bora girl was different. She was strangely quiet. Uncharacteristically so. There was the occasional sniffle or groan when Siyeon would accidentally wrench too fast or too hard. The knight could only assume that all the movement was twisting, knotting, and rubbing the fresh wounds together.</p><p>Sweat began to collect on the knight’s brow as she dragged Bora onwards with a huff. The physical exertion finally taking its toll. Siyeon’s breath hitched when she misplaced her foot, miscalculating her next pace and missing the stone step completely.</p><p>Immediately, as if on instinct, her strong arms engulfed the prisoner in a tight embrace. Siyeon positioned herself in a manner where she would take the brunt of the impact. This Bora girl had been through enough turmoil.</p><p>Gritting her teeth, Siyeon landed with a thump. It was all but pleasant. Her strong arms still had Bora wrapped up tightly as the petite woman had fallen on top of her.</p><p>The knight had never seen someone so breathtakingly beautiful. Ebony locks cascaded messily down past her shoulders complimenting the sharp features of her face. Her breath hitched again, but this time it was due to Bora’s proximity. The prisoner was on top of her, face mere inches from her own.</p><p>Suddenly, Siyeon wanted to close the gap between them. To intertwine their lips together. Perhaps that would settle and comfort the now whimpering petite woman. Or perhaps it was due to her undeniable beauty.</p><p>“Bora,” Siyeon soothed, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat. “Hush now. You must cease your crying. If the Queen sees you like this, she will relish in your pleads and screams. She will only punish you more, so please, try to stay silent and endure it.”</p><p>The prisoner’s mouth was opening and closing with a slight quiver. Tears were pouring from her rapidly reddening eyes. With every exhale of breath, Siyeon could see Bora trembling. She shook so violently, so uncontrollably, that the knight was worried that her wounds would begin to gape.</p><p>“Please,” a timid voice begged. Bora strained and pulled against the shackles that were tightened to their full potential, rubbing her wrists raw. “Siyeon, please.”</p><p>“Is there a reason why you beg?” Siyeon instantly regretted her poor choice of wording. Before her very eyes, Bora shrunk, becoming impossibly smaller. The prisoner curled into herself and bowed her head meekly as if she was bracing for a hit to her already beaten body.</p><p>“N-No,” Bora stuttered out, not daring to even look up at the knight before her. “I’m sorry for begging, Siyeon. It won’t happen again.”</p><p>“No, Bora,” Siyeon began with a sigh. The knight silently cursed herself for being so cold and dismissive. “You do not have to apologize for that. I did not choose my words wisely. ‘Tis my fault.”</p><p>The prisoner shifted uncomfortably above her, Siyeon could feel her shaking in utter fear. “What’s the matter, Bora?” The knight asked ruefully. “Really, what’s troubling you?”</p><p>“I’m not going to be lashed another twenty times if I tell you?”</p><p>“No, no. Of course not, beautiful.” Siyeon sat upright, arms still wrapped around the prisoner in a protective embrace. Her hand fluttered up to Bora’s face and tenderly caressed the bruised flesh there. “Now what’s the matter?”</p><p>“These shackles are hurting my wrists,” Bora admitted ruefully. “Please take them off Siyeon.”</p><p>“I...,” the knight trailed off, her words caught in her throat. She swallowed harshly. “I must ask the Queen for permission to remove them. I shall do my best to persuade her.”</p><p>Bora sobbed harder. “Now I must endure whatever the Queen decides to put me through.”</p><p>Siyeon’s eyes grew wide. “I will not let her harm you.”</p><p>“You don’t understand! She murdered my parents! Now she has my sister! She has Gahyeon!” Bora screeched distraughtly, removing her chin from the knight’s delicate hand. Siyeon herself jumped slightly at the sudden loudness.</p><p>Siyeon brought both hands to cup the prisoner’s face. The sadness and fear held in those brown orbs brought tears to her own eyes. Bora was terrified. The waterworks had begun.</p><p>“I lost control of my emotions,” Boras hiccuped, eyes growing wide. “I am sorry Siyeon. Please don’t hurt me.”</p><p>The knight stared up at her sadly, shaking hands cupped her tear-stained face. “You don’t have to apologize to me, beautiful. You are in grief. She <em>murdered</em> your parents for Gods' sake.”</p><p>“It’s all my fault.” The prisoner bawled, straining against the shackles that encased her wrists. “All I wanted was to protect Minji. And-And I didn’t think the Queen would go after my family. I didn’t think she’d kill them only to see the look of devastation on my pitiable face. My parents were innocent! They did not deserve to die because of a lie I told!”</p><p>“What lie?” The knight frowned.</p><p>“I’m not the rebellion leader, Siyeon” the prisoner cried. “I only said I was to protect Minji because I - I love her and she just-“</p><p>Another sob escaped the petite woman, cutting her words.</p><p>“Easy now,” the knight placed a comforting hand on her shoulder to thwart the uncontrollable trembling, “what did Minji do?”</p><p>“I had the upper hand when fighting the Queen and she, she-she wrenched me away. My flogging was ordered next. No matter how many times I pleaded with her to help me, Minji just watched,” Bora gasped between her sobs.</p><p>“Bora,” Siyeon rasped, blinking away her own tears. “Let me tend to your wounds. After all,” the knight wore the tiniest smiles, a sad one albeit, “I am your knight in shining armor.”</p><p>“Siyeon, thank you.” The prisoner buried her face into the nape of the knight’s neck and sobbed impossibly harder. </p><p>“Please, please,” the knight attempted to soothe, hands hesitant to massage calming circles on the prisoner’s back in fear of hurting her further. “Hush now, the Queen must not see you like this.”</p><p>“But Gahyeon...,” Bora gasped out between her cries.</p><p>“Do not worry about Gahyeon, I will cover that. Come now,” Siyeon lifted the petite woman up like one would a bride. “I must tend to you first.”</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
The Queen grabbed the rebellion leader by the scruff of the neck and chucked her into the cell. Minji cried out from the rough landing but Yoohyeon gave little to no reaction.<br/>
<br/>
Sweat collected on the Queen’s brow from all the physical exertion earlier. Her usual perfectly sculptured face was tainted a deep purple and crimson leaked from the fresh wounds.<br/>
<br/>
<em>'All thanks to that peasant.'</em> The Queen thought bitterly. She wiped away the sheen of sweat on her brow with her dirtied sleeve.<br/>
<br/>
“Kim Minji!” She bellowed, striding into the cell in a newfound fury. The moment she screamed her former lover’s name, a tickle formed in the back of her throat but onwards she went ignoring it in her rage.<br/>
<br/>
“Yoohyeon,” Minji managed to get to all fours. “What is the matter with you? Why are you doing this?”<br/>
<br/>
“What is the matter with me?!” The Queen audibly scoffed. “That peasant that you deem your lover just attacked me!”<br/>
<br/>
Minji clutched the cell wall as she brought herself to her feet, ankle burning anew. She placed the majority of her weight on her uninjured foot and sent a deadly glare towards the Queen.<br/>
<br/>
“ ‘Tis because you murdered her parents!” Minji fired back. “You threatened her sister! You flogged her! Bora does not deserve any of this!”<br/>
<br/>
“You,” Yoohyeon violently jabbed a finger into the redhead’s chest, “you have the audacity to argue with me? I am your Queen, and I have the right to do whatever I please!”<br/>
<br/>
Minji slapped her hand away. “Do not touch me! And no, you do not have the right to do whatever you please! Bora was in a state of shock! She is grieving and you ordered her flogging! What the hell is the matter with you?”<br/>
<br/>
Yoohyeon clutched at her disheveled silver locks in frustration. “Bora this, Bora that. Do you ever shut up about her? Since when did you have a soft spot for lowly peasants?”<br/>
<br/>
Minji’s glower intensified. “My relationship with Bora is none of your business! You evicted me from the castle, remember? Because you decided to become <em>this</em>.” The rebellion leader gestured to the sadistic, tyrannical person before her. “You were never like <em>this</em>.”</p><p>Yoohyeon was silent, the tickle in her throat becoming aggressive and irritating the more she and Minji argued. The Queen worried her bottom lip, chewing it nervously.<br/>
<br/>
“Is she better in bed?” Yoohyeon said suddenly, eyes glistening over with tears. “Is that why you moved on with her?”<br/>
<br/>
Minji felt as if she had been hit over the head by a tonne of bricks. “What?”<br/>
<br/>
The Queen tugged at her silver locks again before clutching at her thumping, aching head. “Are you stupid? I am asking if she fucks you well, whore.”<br/>
<br/>
Slamming her palms into the Queen’s chest, Minji sent her tumbling to the floor. Yoohyeon landed on her bottom with a yelp.<br/>
<br/>
“How dare you?” Minji cried, snapping after being name-called. “The only person I have ever been intimate with is you!”<br/>
<br/>
Yoohyeon’s eyes grew wide from her spot on the floor. “Me?”<br/>
<br/>
“Yes,” the redhead sighed, unshed tears beginning to brim. “It has only been you.”<br/>
<br/>
The Queen’s eyes flitted around nervously as if she was trying to search her mind for answers.<br/>
<br/>
<em>'Is it true? Bora and Minji are not lovers? But this could be part of their plan to overthrow me. Everyone is the enemy. That is what father used to say. They could be-'</em><br/>
<br/>
Suddenly, Minji was before her intertwining their hands together, and thwarting her whirlwind of thoughts.<br/>
<br/>
“Come back to me Yoohyeon,” she pleaded, a lone tear trailing down her battered cheek. “This, whatever this is, it isn’t you. I want you back. The real you.”<br/>
<br/>
“This is the real me,” the Queen spat, roughly removing her hands from Minji’s grasp. “The old Yoohyeon was weak and pathetic.”<br/>
<br/>
“No, no,” Minji shook her head. “The old Yoohyeon was an empathetic soul, someone who cared for and protected her people and loved ones.”<br/>
<br/>
The Queen blankly stared at the older woman whose unshed tears were beginning to spill over.</p><p>“I didn’t start this rebellion to overthrow you or to start a war against you,” Minji admitted ruefully. “That was just how things ended up, unfortunately.”<br/>
<br/>
“You...,” Yoohyeon’s brow creased in confusion. “You are the rebellion leader? But Bora-“<br/>
<br/>
“Bora was dying so she lied to protect me,” the older woman sniffled. “To save me from whatever torture you had planned.”<br/>
<br/>
“So if I am to believe that you are the true rebellion leader," the Queen squinted in thought, "why did you plot to overthrow me?”<br/>
<br/>
“I didn’t, I swear to you, ” Minji was adamant in her response. “You told me to run away and never come back but I had to find a way back to you.”<br/>
<br/>
“You had to find a way back to me?” Yoohyeon threw her head back and laughed. “Do you understand how ridiculous that sounds?”<br/>
<br/>
“I needed to become someone of importance so I could stop this new you and protect the realm. I needed to be by your side to do that. And if I was not important enough, I would not be wanted by The Crown.”<br/>
<br/>
“You are expecting me to believe that you started a rebellion, became its leader, and willingly gave thyself to my Guard all because you wanted to be by my side? To ‘fix me’?” Yoohyeon laughed hysterically, blinking her tears away.<br/>
<br/>
The redhead pinched the bridge of her nose in stress and frustration. “Are you that blinded by your sadistic, tyrannical ways? I planned to be captured by your Guard because I...” her words trailed off as she swallowed roughly to prevent a sob from escaping.<br/>
<br/>
“Because you what?” Yoohyeon venomously spat the tickle in her throat now becoming an aching pressure. “Say it!”<br/>
<br/>
“Because even though you pushed me away all those years ago, I still love you!” Minji finally sobbed out.<br/>
<br/>
“You what?” The pressure in her throat began to dwindle.<br/>
<br/>
“Love of my life,” Minji brought shaky hands up to the Queen’s face. They hovered over the marred flesh for a moment before finally, the rebellion leader had the confidence to cup Yoohyeon’s cheeks. “Everything I have done has been for you. <em>To save you</em>.”</p><p>Yoohyeon was frozen place, breath hitching in her already aching throat, eyes glued to the woman before her.<br/>
<br/>
“Vallerius can still be saved. <em>You can still be saved.</em>” The older woman spoke with such desperation. “With me by your side, you can become a good Queen, one that the populace loves.”<br/>
<br/>
“And what makes you think that I want you by my side?” Yoohyeon spoke softly, her aching throat beginning to burn.<br/>
<br/>
“Because you are my soulmate," Minji cried, "and I love you.”<br/>
<br/>
<em>'And I know deep down you love me too.'</em><br/>
<br/>
“Prove it.”<br/>
<br/>
The torches in the cell flickered, illuminating them both in dim orange light. Minji was so close that Yoohyeon could now take in her scent. Not like her scent was pleasant or anything. The older woman’s arms wrapped around the Queen and tenderly pulled her closer until their bodies were pressed together.<br/>
<br/>
“W-What are you doing?” The Queen was not one to stutter.<br/>
<br/>
“I mean it,” Minji breathed out, “I love you.”<br/>
<br/>
Yoohyeon could not have predicted what was to happen next. Not in a million years.<br/>
<br/>
Minji captured her lips. It was far from innocent. Instead, the rebellion leader moved hurriedly, demandingly, intertwining their lips in a fiery, passionate kiss. The years spent apart melting away with every peck.<br/>
<br/>
Yoohyeon’s burning throat calmed, the tickle disappearing as she too kissed the older woman with fervent urgency. Their lips moved together, synchronised like a rhythmic dance. Their bodies fit together like missing puzzle pieces. Yoohyeon was beginning to believe that Minji was correct in deeming them soulmates.<br/>
<br/>
Then, the rebellion leader moved to pepper the length of her neck with hot, wet kisses. Yoohyeon could only knot her fists into the older woman’s blouse as she left a burning trail behind.<br/>
<br/>
“Minji,” the Queen whispered, taking a sharp intake of breath.<br/>
<br/>
Teeth grazed across her skin as the redhead smiled at hearing her name said in a pleasurable, harmonious tone for once and after all these years. In response, the Queen let go of Minji’s blouse and instead wrapped her arms around her pulling the redhead impossibly closer.<br/>
<br/>
The Queen pressed Minji’s face into the nape of her neck, urging her to continue nipping at the skin as she rested her chin on the older woman’s shoulder. Eyes screwed shut suddenly when Minji nipped too hard. Yoohyeon hissed. When the mild pain subsided, the Queen spotted rusted shackles only mere inches away. They were bolted to the floor and looked worn out but they would be perfect for what she had planned.<br/>
<br/>
The Queen’s signature arrogant smirk graced her blemished features as Minji continued biting and nipping at the skin of her neck. The tickle and ache in her throat began to surge.<br/>
<br/>
Enough was enough.<br/>
<br/>
With a violent suddenness, Yoohyeon pushed Minji down to the dingy cell floor making sure to pin her hands above her head and clamber on top of her to restrict any movement.<br/>
<br/>
“Y-Yoohyeon...,” the rebellion leader stuttered. This was a bold maneuver even for Minji’s standards. “W-What...what...”<br/>
<br/>
“Shut it, Minji.” The Queen crashed their lips together once more, silencing the redhead. As Yoohyeon’s mouth moved at a fervent pace, so did her hands. The worn-out, rusted shackles rattled as she dragged them closer to encase them around Minji’s wrists.<br/>
<br/>
<em>'Click.'</em><br/>
<br/>
In a matter of minutes, she had restrained the rebellion leader. The Queen’s plan had worked perfectly, despite the sudden burning deep in her throat.<br/>
<br/>
“What,” the rebellion leader gasped, lungs desperately needing air, “what are you doing?”<br/>
<br/>
Yoohyeon’s lips moved to her next target, teeth grazing against the redhead’s earlobe. “Did you really think you could fool me?”<br/>
<br/>
“Yoohyeon, you...,” Minji’s chest heaved from the physical exertion, “you tricked me?”<br/>
<br/>
The Queen stood up proudly, brushing herself off and leaving Minji restrained on the floor. “Yes, I did. 'Twas easier than I thought."<br/>
<br/>
"How... how could you do this to me?"<br/>
<br/>
"Do you actually think that I would believe the horseshit that you are spewing?”</p><p>“Everything I told you was the truth!” Minji screamed, straining against the shackles.<br/>
<br/>
“Liar!” Yoohyeon sent a boot into the older woman’s midsection, the pain in the back of her throat suddenly unbearable as Minji yelped agonizingly. “The truth is right before my very eyes! You and Bora are sickly sweet with one another! The way you touch and caress one another- “<br/>
<br/>
“I don’t love her! I love you!" Minji swiftly interrupted despite the pain that had erupted through the entirety of her midsection. "That is the truth! I swear it!”<br/>
<br/>
“No, you don’t,” Yoohyeon choked out, the blockage in her throat becoming almost unbearable. “You love her.”<br/>
<br/>
Suddenly the Queen found herself on all fours, finding it extremely difficult to breathe. “You must be lovers, and-“ she wheezed out before she began to cough violently.<br/>
<br/>
“Yoohyeon?” The rebellion leader’s voice held nothing but concern as another violent cough escaped the Queen.<br/>
<br/>
Yoohyeon clutched at her throat, attempting to soothe the feeling of what she thought was bile beginning to rise. Her hands curled into fists as she collapsed onto all fours once again. With a final hacking cough, she heaved, bringing up what seemed to be a handful of flower petals. Pink flower petals. The peculiar sight before caused her to freeze in place.<br/>
<br/>
<em>'It can’t be...'</em> The Queen froze in horror.<br/>
<br/>
“Yoohyeon, that’s ...,” Minji despaired, cascades of tears finally spilling over, “that’s Hanahaki.”<br/>
<br/>
“I know what it is, fool,” the Queen croaked, hurriedly stuffing the petals into her pockets so that no one else would catch a glimpse.<br/>
<br/>
<em>''IsMinji telling the truth? Are we indeed soulmates?'</em><br/>
<br/>
“Please, please, I’m telling you the truth!” Minji arched her back hoping to loosen the shackles that encased her wrists but all her attempts were futile. “I know you are my soulmate!” She tugged on her restraints again wanting to break free. “You must believe me!”<br/>
<br/>
“You dare tell anybody about this Hanahaki,” Yoohyeon rasped, towering menacingly above a flailing Minji, “and your oh-so-precious Bora will be subjected to more than just a flogging. Perhaps next time she will enjoy the feeling of hot irons branding her silky smooth skin.”<br/>
<br/>
“N-No, you cant,” Minji pleaded, “Yoohyeon!"<br/>
<br/>
“In fact,” the Queen hummed, turning with a swift flick of her cape, “I must pay Bora a visit now.”</p><p>“Yoohyeon, please!” Minji sobbed out. “Don’t hurt her!”<br/>
<br/>
“See? There it is,” Yoohyeon jabbed a finger at the redhead. “Your love for her.”<br/>
<br/>
“Yoohyeon!” Minji strained against her shackles again as the Queen turned, a billow of dust engulfing her.<br/>
<br/>
“Remember what I told you, Minji. Keep your mouth shut about this Hanahaki or more punishment will come to Bora.”<br/>
<br/>
With a confident stride, Yoohyeon walked out of the cell.<br/>
<br/>
“Yoohyeon! Yoohyeon!” the rebellion leader screeched after her. “Don’t hurt her!”<br/>
<br/>
The arrogant smirk tugged at the Queen’s lips curving them upwards in a menacing grin as Minji's pleas and wails bounced off the walls of the palace prison.<br/>
<br/>
<em>'This is what you deserve for moving on with <strong>her</strong>.'</em></p>
<hr/><p><br/>
Bora was lying flat on her stomach when she awoke. She blinked a couple of times, shaking the grogginess away.<br/>
<br/>
Looking around, it was obvious she was lying in the Queen’s chambers. Everything was so grotesquely ornate, covered in rare jewels and gold leaf. It made her stomach churn in disgust. The people were starving, it had not been the best crop season, and the Queen lived with an exorbitant amount of luxuries.<br/>
<br/>
Tiny hands balled into fists against the soft mattress at the mere thought of her people suffering at the hands of this madwoman. That was when she realized her hands were no longer shackled together.<br/>
<br/>
Siyeon must have spoken to the Queen. Gods bless that woman.<br/>
<br/>
“Bora!” Handong called, potion in hand. “Thank goodness you have awoken. Siyeon was beginning to worry.”<br/>
<br/>
 “Siyeon? Where is she?” Bora tried to get up but immediately regretted doing so. Her body ached, the lashes across her back, buttocks, thighs, and calves screamed in protest. They throbbed so fiercely it felt as if she had been stung by a thousand hornets.<br/>
<br/>
“Easy, easy!” The healer made sure that the prisoner stayed put. “Siyeon will be back. She just went to get some supplies. Do not worry so much.”<br/>
<br/>
“You must be Handong,” the petite woman observed. “The healer who saved me. I have never properly thanked you for that.”<br/>
<br/>
“Oh nonsense, Bora.” The healer rolled her eyes. “I was doing what a healer is supposed to do. There is no reason to thank me.”<br/>
<br/>
“Well,” the prisoner sighed shakily, “thank you nonetheless.”<br/>
<br/>
<em>'Thank you for pulling me out of Heaven.'</em> Bora's thoughts swirled bitterly. <br/>
<br/>
“It is my duty to take care of you or Siyeon will make it her personal mission to kick my arse,” the healer chuckled lowly when Bora quirked a brow. “Now drink this.”<br/>
<br/>
“What in the hell is that ?” Bora eyed the brown liquid with displeasure.<br/>
<br/>
“‘Tis a potion I brewed to assist with the pain,” Handong explained with a smile.<br/>
<br/>
“Thou has the ability to ease my pain?” The prisoner gazed up at the healer with hopeful eyes.<br/>
<br/>
“Mhm,” Handong hummed with a nod. “Here I will even help you sit up so you can have it. Siyeon would not be too happy if I caused you to choke.”<br/>
<br/>
The healer placed her hands underneath the prisoner’s shoulders and hoisted her to sit upright. “Thank you,” the prisoner said softly.<br/>
<br/>
“No need to thank me, just drink,” Handong held the mug up to Bora’s lips, tilting it so that the medicinal potion touched the chapped skin. Bora’s entire body quivered once the foul liquid hit her tastebuds and traveled down to her belly.<br/>
<br/>
“Gods!” The prisoner screamed, sticking her tongue out with a look of disgust scrunching up her features. “That tastes like utter horseshit!”<br/>
<br/>
“I never said it was going to be the most wonderful thing to ever grace your tastebuds,” Handong retorted ever so wittily. "Regardless, I am a healer, not a chef.”</p><p>Before Bora could respond with an equally witty response, the door opened to reveal her knight in shining armor carrying bundles of bandages and pots of healing ointment.<br/>
<br/>
“I have returned,” Siyeon announced. “Glad to see you are awake, love.”<br/>
<br/>
The healer took in the comedic sight of the knight trying to balance all the supplies under her chin. As she walked towards the prisoner she wobbled as a typical drunkard would. Handong could not help but chuckle loudly at how her friend struggled with the load she was carrying.<br/>
<br/>
“Was it really necessary to bring all my supplies? What are you trying to turn the poor girl into? An Egyptian mummy?” Handong brought her hands to her belly as she laughed wholeheartedly.<br/>
<br/>
“Shush you,” Siyeon dumped the bandages and ointment pots on the bed, “I didn’t bring all the supplies. There’s still two rolls of bandages left, and a pot of calendula.”<br/>
<br/>
"Only two rolls of bandages and a pot of ointment left?" Handong raised a brow, knowing full well that the knight had just gone overboard because she was concerned and perhaps smitten for this Bora girl. "Don't you think you went slightly overboard?"<br/>
<br/>
"No, I have yet to assess the wounds," Siyeon frowned in thought as she prepared the supplies. "For all I know this may not be enough. "<br/>
<br/>
"Not enough?!" Handong exclaimed incredulously. "Would you like me to contact the healers from across the treacherous seas in case we run out of supplies then?" The healer responded ever so sarcastically.<br/>
<br/>
The knight was too transfixed in preparing supplies for Bora, busying herself accordingly. "Yes, yes. That is a brilliant idea Dongie. Contact healers from different kingdoms. I want all the supplies possible. Bora needs the uttermost care."<br/>
<br/>
Handong leaned back and laughed uproariously. At this point, the healer did not need to observe any further nor hear any more of Siyeon's nervous babbling. It was obvious that the knight was completely smitten by this Bora girl.<br/>
<br/>
"Uh...," Bora began timidly, “excuse my lack of knowledge, I am an uneducated peasant after all, but what is an Egyptian mummy?” Bora asked, brows furrowed in complete confusion.<br/>
<br/>
The question caused Siyeon to instantly stop her preparations, her usual serious, focused, and solemn expression faltering. The knight cupped her mouth to stifle a low chuckle but it was no use. Siyeon joined Handong in throwing her head back in roaring, hearty laughter.</p><p>"Siyeon," Bora whined. Her lips formed into a sad pout, cheeks puffing out with a small, almost soundless 'hmph'.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh Bora," the knight hummed as the smile began to reach her eyes. "It looks like I have much to teach you."</p>
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